Red Sox Place Chris Sale On The 10-Day Disabled List With Left Shoulder Inflammation

Chris Sale, who was slated to start the series opener against the Yankees on Thursday, is headed to the 10-day disabled list with shoulder inflammation. It sucks that he won’t be able to make his start against the Yankees, because he routinely puts them in his back pocket and owns the lowest ERA of any pitcher in history against them, but this could also be a blessing in disguise for the Red Sox.

With all this talk about his tendency to fade in the second half, Sale has made 22 starts this year. Through 22 starts last year, Sale threw 2,405 pitches in 153.1 innings. Through 22 starts this year, Sale has thrown 2,224 pitches in 141 innings. So, over the same amount of starts, he’s thrown 181 fewer pitches in 12 fewer innings.

And if you’re panicking right now about the health of Sale — don’t. They used to do this with Pedro Martinez all the time back in the day. They’d build in breaks for him in the second half to keep him fresh for the postseason. Sale has already faced the Yankees twice this season — one earned run in 13 innings with 19 strikeouts — so the less the Yankees see him, the better. Why? Do the math. The most likely outcome is that the Red Sox will meet the Yankees in a five-game series in the ALDS. If that series goes the distance, the Yankees will, at least, see him two more times. They’ll more than likely see him at least one more time before the season is over, too.

Because the move is retroactive to July 28, Sale is eligible to come off the disabled list on August 7, which means that he can make his next scheduled start after New York against the Blue Jays in Toronto. According to Dave Dombrowski, Sale has vowed to make that start, meaning that he will only be missing this one start against the Yankees. Fingers crossed.