Some day the Boston Red Sox may come to regret their momentous trade for pitcher Chris Sale, which cost them two elite minor league prospects last winter.
That day, however, will wait.
When the Red Sox briefly overtook the New York Yankees for first place in the American League (AL) East this week after a two-month chase, fittingly it was their new pitcher who put them there with a dominating victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Sale has been an overwhelming game-changer for Boston, arguably the primary reason they are contending for a post-season berth and not slogging in mediocrity.
In the 15 games that Sale has pitched in, the Sox have won 11 times. When the left-hander is not playing Boston are 29-28.
Sale’s acquisition was supposed to simply bolster the Red Sox, since the team were coming off an AL East title.
They already were pitching-rich with Cy Young Award winners Rick Porcello (2016) and David Price (2012) at the head of the rotation. Instead, Sale has saved them.
Porcello has been miserable, with a 3-9 record and a ghastly 5.05 earned run average (ERA).
Price had arm troubles in spring training and did not join the team until the end of May. His five starts have yielded a 5.14 ERA.
It is Sale who has been Cy-worthy. He leads Major League Baseball with 107.1 innings pitched, meaning his average start takes him into the eighth inning. In the Age of Burly Bullpens, Sale is a welcome anomaly, giving over-taxed relievers a chance to rest.
He also leads the majors with 146 strikeouts, while giving up just 19 walks, a stellar ratio. His walks-and-hits-to-innings pitched (WHIP) is a lowly .90.
His 9-3 record and 2.85 ERA place him among league leaders, as well.
Sale also has brought an emotional intensity to a team that lost long-time clubhouse king David Ortiz to retirement. Ortiz was a unique blend of fun and fire, and not exactly replaceable. But Sale has made clear his own competitive ferocity.
When the Sox and Baltimore Orioles were engaged in a pair of anger-fuelled series early in the season, newcomer Sale contributed by throwing a 150-kilometres-per-hour fastball behind Baltimore lightning rod Manny Machado.
The pitch was a cheap shot, dangerous and roundly criticised for extending the feud. It did serve Sale’s purpose, however, which was to insert himself in the rivalry.
Most of his intensity is self-directed. In beating Kansas City this week, he took an 8-1 lead into the ninth inning, looking for a complete game. But after he gave up a two-run homer and another single, he fumed when manager John Farrell called for relief to get the final two outs.
Sale made clear he was not mad at Farrell, but his own inability to finish the game. Just getting the ‘W’ was not the whole job.
“When you start settling, you get complacent,” Sale told MLB.com after the game. “When you get complacent, you [stink]. That’s not my style.”
In any case, Sale has made Boston fans and media forget, at least temporarily, that the team parted with top infield prospect Yoan Moncada and their best minor league pitcher, Michael Kopech.
The pair are still excelling in the minors, for the Chicago White Sox, and seem likely to make the rebuilding White Sox very happy in the near future.
The Red Sox, of course, see the post-season as an annual rite. In the here and now, it is Sale who has set their course.
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