The Chicago White Sox feared the worst when they found out that their ace and potential Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale reported to camp today limping.
Apparently the 25-year-old left-hander was injured in an accident at his home. According to the team’s Twitter accound Sale suffered an avulsion fracture to his right foot. Thankfully for the White Sox the prognosis is that Sale will only be out for three weeks.
Chris Sale suffered an avulsion fracture on his right foot in an accident at his home yesterday. He is expected to be sidelined 3 weeks.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) February 28, 2015
Obviously now Sale’s opening day status is in jeopardy.
Sale underwent x-rays this am & will undergo further tests once swelling subsides. His status for Opening Day will be better determined then
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) February 28, 2015
However, over the offseason the White Sox acquired right-hander Jeff Samardzija, who will likely get the nod for Opening Day if Sale is unable to be ready by then. They also have 25-year-old left-hander Jose Quintana who established himself as a front-end starter in 2014, pitching 200.1 innings and posting a 3.32 ERA in 32 starts for Chicago.
The White Sox should be able to handle the start of the season with those two at the top of the rotation. However, if Sale’s injury were to linger they would have a problem, needing a fifth starter.
At this point their options include Hector Noesi, John Danks, Scott Carroll, and Erik Johnson. If absolutely necessary they could consider using prospect Carlos Rodon as a fifth starter.
Rodon was the third overall pick in the 2014 draft and could use more minor league playing time before moving up to the big leagues.
Still it looks as though the White Sox are farily confident that even if Sale isn’t ready by Opening Day that he will be ready by the time they are in need of a fifth start on April 12. The injury doesn’t appear to be all that serious.
Sale didn’t seem worried when talking to the press saying,
“It’s essentially a sprained ankle. I’ll be fine. They aren’t going to have to cut it off. It’s still here …”
General manager Rick Hahn had a similar positive outlook that Sale will be ready within three weeks.
“The prognosis is positive — we’re going to be looking at a three week period of time here.” – Rick Hahn — Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) February 28, 2015
Sale is one of the top pitchers in the league. Even though he only won 12 games and missed five weeks because of a flexor muscle strain in 2014, he still finished third in the American League Cy Young Award voting.
Sale posted a 2.17 ERA, made the All-Star team for the third straight year and struck out 208 batters in just 174.0 innings. His 12-9 record was a result of a lack of run support and had nothing to do with his pitching.
All signs point to the fact that Sale will be fine when the 2015 season arrives which is all the White Sox really need to know.
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