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The Boston Red Sox appeared to suffer a major blow against the New York Yankees on Sunday (BOS-NYY GameTracker) when ace lefty Chris Sale was forced out of his start with an injury to his throwing arm. Sale suffered the injury in the bottom of the first when a pitch from the bat of Aaron Hicks hit him on the hand, and the Red Sox later announced the injury as a fractured left fifth toe or broken bunion.
Here’s a look at the play:
As you can see, Sale immediately left the field, his left calf looking deformed. Given that the injury is to his throwing arm, he is likely bound for the injured list and a significant recovery period.
It was just Sale’s second start of the 2022 season. He returned from a stress fracture of the rib cage he suffered late in spring training on July 12. On Sunday, Saleh, who was replaced by Hirokazu Sawamura after the injury, allowed three runs (two earned) in just 2/3 of an inning. The result raised Sale’s ERA after two starts to 3.18. The 33-year-old is in the third year of a five-year, $145 million contract with Boston.
The struggling Red Sox, who came into Sunday’s rubber game having lost five of their last six and nine of their last 12, are already plagued by injury problems in the rotation. Five starting pitchers – Rich Hill, Connor Seibold, Michael Wacha, Josh Winkowski and James Paxton – are currently in the IL for Boston. Sale’s injury will likely accelerate the front office’s efforts to land rotation help leading up to the Aug. 2 trade deadline, but ownership’s commitment to invest in the roster has been lacking for some time.
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