Why Chris Sale Is In Position To Succeed In Long-Awaited Red Sox Return

Lanky lefty Chris Sale will make his season debut for the Red Sox on Tuesday after recovering from an offseason rib fracture. 

Chris Sale Injury Report

Sale finished his short rehab stint with a much-reported-on start on Wednesday night and was deemed ready to make his first big-league appearance since a disastrous 2021 postseason.

The 33-year-old southpaw should be well-healed from his February rib stress fracture, the Pro Baseball Docs say, and he will return with an SIC score of 90.

The unknown variable that could cause a disturbance is what caused the stress fracture. 

If Sale suffered the rib injury due to away-from-team training during the lockout, as the Docs infer, he will enter with no limitations.

If he suffered the fracture because of something structurally wrong, the underlying issue would linger, but there has been no indication that is the case.

Sale's second variable is well-known, as the ace underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020 and made only 12 appearances last season.

This was set up to be the year Sale would make a full return before the stress fracture interrupted his season.

The Red Sox may be cautious with Sale's ramp-up given the long time away, but he is close to being unleashed once again.

Fantasy And Betting Outlook

Even if Sale is on a pitch limit he can be an effective strikeout starter, as evidenced by his last 34 starts, in which he posted 270 strikeouts across 190 innings while dealing with or recovering from injuries.

FanDuel Sportsbook has set the Red Sox line to win the World Series at +3000.