Chris Sale plan still makes sense as he searches for mechanics, velocity

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BOSTON — There are some gambles that don’t make sense for teams to take. 

Having a sense of reliance on Tyler Thornburg without acquiring a reliever as insurance if he didn’t hold up physically, for example. That never made sense. Thornburg is now done for the year, Alex Cora mentioned on Wednesday. The Sox’ bullpen planning continues to look as haphazard as ninth-grade algebra homework done 30 minutes before class.

In the rotation, the choice to build up Chris Sale with only a handful of outings before the playoffs was always a gamble. The plan came with risk, and the risk is playing out now in front of everyone’s eyes. Rust. Down velocity. 

As of now, his regular season is over and he doesn’t look like the dominant pitcher who started the All-Star Game and routinely threw in the upper-90s. On Wednesday against the Orioles, the lefty allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out eight, but uncharacteristically missed at times with his slider and looked generally unlike his best self. Not just in his velocity, but in his delivery.

Perhaps a little more time wouldn't hurt before the spotlight? We may never know.

But however it works out — and it could still work out well for Sale and the Sox — this gamble made sense. There was a performance history and a recent shoulder injury for the Red Sox to contend with. They wanted to do their best to protect the health and durability of a pitcher who has struggled in the second half before, who struggled in October a year ago.

“The only thing we didn't accomplish over the course of the plan was him to get to the [six] innings, which is the up and downs, which is very important for his body,” Cora said. “But besides that, I think as far as pitch count, we went from 75 or whatever it was the last one to [92]. So now everybody is throwing 90 and 100 pitches, so we're right where we want to be.”

Well, not exactly. By Cora’s own assessment, Sale didn’t look sharp on Wednesday.

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"Not great, we saw that,” the manager said generally. “We were just talking a little while ago. As soon as I took him out, he came up here in the video room. It seems like there is something mechanically going on. He’s not firing his hips like he normally does. 

"We don’t have too much time, so he’ll work on it this weekend. Probably Monday, he will throw an aggressive bullpen, and see where he’s at and we’ll go from there.”

Sale hit 94 mph on Wednesday, but he also was sitting closer to 90-91 mph, as low as he ever has in a recorded start.

“I saw some things last week and even tonight, just not really driving off my lower half and really create that torque I have in the past,” Sale said. “We’ve got extended time now to kind of figure out what we need to do and we’ll go from there.”

Sale could unleash hell come Oct. 5 at Fenway Park in Game 1 of the ALDS. But if he does not, that means only the gamble failed: not that the gamble was dumb.

There was an alternative. Sale could have returned to game action sooner as he dealt with bursitis in his left shoulder. But the Sox didn’t need him en route to the most wins in franchise history and the best record in the majors, so the team erred on the side of caution.

“First off, we’re going to respect whatever might be going on [physically],” pitching coach Dana LeVangie said. “And then we’re going to work our way through those progressions. Despite where we were at the time, it’s not like we’re panicking because Chris Sale’s not there.”

As Sale described it, he largely stayed out of those scheduling choices.

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“This was never really up to me,” Sale said. “I showed up on a daily basis and did my work, threw and did what I needed to do to get ready. We were able to take a little more time than maybe we could have normally. Obviously, my team put us in that position.”

In other words: Sale would have pitched if asked. That’s to be expected of him (and most pitchers, but particularly him.)

“We’re going to stay patient and allow him to build back up,” LeVangie said. “You go and ask any player, and every player should answer it this way. You good to pitch? ‘Yeah I’m fine.’ 

“Yeah, but at what cost?” 

Sale was firm Wednesday that his health is not the problem, but mechanics.

“I think it’s pretty obvious when you break it down and look at it,” Sale said.

LeVangie and Sale had worked a similar matter heading into the start.

“If you’re striding across your body too much, and you’re trying to open your hips to get extension through the ball, you’re going to lose some velocity,” LeVangie said.

Whether Sale faces hitters at some point from here is something the Sox will discuss. He could throw a sim game, or something of that nature. 

He could throw a dud in Game 1 or a gem. Either way, the Sox were justified to go down this path. A quicker return could have created a different set of problems.

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