After his production fell off in recent years, starting pitcher Chris Sale appears to be back to his old form, which is great news for the Boston Red Sox.
The Boston Red Sox have done more than hold their own in the tough AL East division so far this season. This weekend, they went on the road to take on the San Diego Padres. The series held extra meaning for the Red Sox and the fanbase, as this was the Padres team that signed shortstop Xander Bogaerts away from them. They opened up the series with a convincing 6-1 win on Friday night. They had the chance to win the series on Saturday.
Luckily for Boston, they had the Chris Sale of Old on the mound.
On Saturday, the Red Sox defeated the Padres 4-2 after Sale struck out eight batters and issued one walk on 111 pitches in seven full innings of work.
Chris Sale of old returns for Red Sox
Sale showed off that he still has some heat in his fastball, as evidenced by this 98 mph pitch that caused Padres slugger Juan Soto to swing and miss to end the fourth inning.
This isn't just a one-off performance by Sale. He's been stellar in his last four starts, as he recorded a 2.30 ERA, a 0.6951 WHIP, 32 strikeouts, and three walks in 27.2 innings pitched.
Sale's resurgence is a welcome sight for the Red Sox, as he has had a rough couple of years. In 2019, his season ended due to left elbow inflammation. Ahead of the 2020 campaign, Sale needed Tommy John surgery, which forced him to miss the 2020 season. Then, last year, Sale dealt with a variety of injuries, such as a stress fracture in his rib cage, a fractured left pinky finger after being hit by a line drive, and a broken left wrist in a bike accident that ended his season.
Despite a rough start to the season, Sale appears to be back to the form when the Red Sox first acquired him back in 2017.
