By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Published on Thursday, March 19, 2020 at 6:58 am EST
The Major League Baseball season has not even begun yet. But they’re already without the ace of their rotation.
The Red Sox announced that starting pitcher Chris Sale will have Tommy John surgery. He will miss the entire 2020 season — whenever it starts.
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the entire sports world is on hold. This may have played a huge part in Sale’s decision to have the operation now.
Once he finally has the procedure, he will miss the entire 2020 season. The likelihood of a return is in April or May of the 2021 season.
He is coming off what may be the worst season of his career. The 30-year-old was hampered by by elbow pain for a significant part of last season.
The team eventually shut him down following his August 13th start. He made 25 starts before the two sides decided he needed to stop pitching for the rest of the season.
He received a no decision in his final start of the 2019 season. He went 6 2/3 innings in a 7-6 win over the Cleveland Indians.
Sale allowed five runs, including three earned runs, on five hits, including two home runs. He also struck out 12 batters and walked two batters.
In 2019, he went 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA over 147 1/3 innings. Sale allowed 80 runs, including 72 earned runs, on 123 hits, including 24 home runs. He also struck out 218 batters and walked 37.
Before last season, it was the first-time that he did not win 10 or more games since the 2011 season. Sale went 2-2 that season in 58 relief appearances and 17 games finished in 71 innings.
In his career, including the last three with the Red Sox, he has a 109-73 record with a 3.03 ERA in 312 appearances, including 232 starts. He also has 25 games finished, 16 complete games, three shutouts and 12 saves.
He has allowed 590 runs, including 548 earned runs, on 1,312 hits, including 172 home runs, in 1,629 2/3 innings. He also struck out 2,007 batters in his career with 374 walks.