Chris Sale's season is likely over

Alright, this is rough for a team that's kind of in the wildcard hunt as like an extreme underdog.

Chris Sale is basically out for the season. It's not the worst news in the world as he is at least not gonna get Tommy John Surgery. That would be worse.

But you know what? It's the kind of thing that makes you go "phew". He met with Dr. James Andrews on Monday--which is never a good sign. People don't go there unless they have something wrong with them. So he took a PRP injection as a part of his elbow treatment and is going to rest for six weeks. So yes, the chances of him returning this season are nil -- unless the team somehow makes it to the World Series. Sadly, I don't see that happening, so yeah...

Sale is not having that great of a year. He went 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA in 25 starts. Basically, it was the worst season of his career as a starting pitcher. If anything, that just shows how great of an arm he is that he wasn't a trainwreck this time around.

On the positive side, he did strike out 13.3 batters per nine innings pitched, better than any other MLB starter. Oh yeah, and his 3.40 FIP--an ERA substitute--indicates he had some bad luck as far as the ERA goes.

But yeah, the Red Sox have Sale locked up long term, so they need him to be healthy in years to come. There was no sense in having him go out there and risk injury when this probably isn't THE season for the Red Sox in the way that 2018 was for the team.

So yeah: good move being cautious with Sale. He's an elite arm and in 2020, they'll need him in order to contend.