Red Sox put Chris Sale on DL again with shoulder inflammation

BOSTON -- Six days after his brilliant start against Baltimore, the Red Sox today returned ace Chris Sale to the 10-day disabled list with mild left shoulder inflammation, retroactive to Wednesday, August 15.

To fill Sale’s spot on the 25-man roster, the club recalled right-hander Brandon Workman from Triple-A Pawtucket.

While the Red Sox have not officially named a start for tomorrow's series finale (1:05 p.m.) against Tampa Bay, Red Sox manager Alex Cora suggested that Hector Velasquez, should he not pitch in Saturday night's tilt at Fenway, will get the ball.

Cora did not anticipate any additional changes to the starting rotation, which would see Rick Porcello start against Cleveland Monday night, followed by Nathan Eovaldi, Brian Johnson, and tonight's starter, David Price, in that order through Thursday.

There is also no timetable for Sale's return to the rotation.

"I think it’s a smart move," Cora told reporters before the game, referencing this second DL stint for the lanky lefty. "In this situation, there’s a process: before the start, during the start, and after the start. It was taking (Sale) a while after the start, and where we are right now, not only as an organization but as an individual, we have to take care of him. This guy’s very important to what we’re trying to accomplish, and if he has to skip one, two, three, whatever (starts), we’re willing to do that.

"He’ll be back, like he said; he feels better than the last time we put him on the DL. So he’ll get his rest, he’ll get his treatment, and we’ll go from there."

During last Sunday's 4-1 win over the Orioles, Sale threw five one-hit innings, fanning 12 hitters on 68 pitches, 48 of which for strikes. He touched 99 miles per hour on the radar gun several times, and averaged 97 for his 16-hitter outing.

Cora noted that the inflammation "isn’t like the first time," and that the team won't use different treatment options.

"When we went into the office, I was a little bit scared, to be honest, but he’ll be back," Cora said. "He threw the ball well (Sunday) for five innings, velocity was good, which is always good. Repeating the delivery, keeping his arm slot was consistent. He doesn’t feel right, right now, he didn’t recover the way we wanted him to recover and the way he wants to recover."

Sale joins two other pitchers -- Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez -- on the DL for the time being.

BSJ Analysis

This isn't the news Red Sox Nation wants to hear, but take heed: the Sox are still 51 games over .500. If the training staff needs to baby him and preserve his arm for the next few weeks, then fine. Do that. The Sox won't lose too much ground, especially with the way the pitching and defense has been going all season.

Cora also said that there are no current plans to move anyone else up to take Sale's place in the rotation, and that determination would be made later in the week. He's optimistic, and not worrying about Sale's shoulder acting up in the postseason, which is still six weeks away from now.

“We’re not there yet," he told a reporter. "Hopefully it doesn’t.”