McAdam: Bad news continues as Chris Sale's elbow flares up after live BP session

TAMPA -- A spring full of bad news continued for the Red Sox Wednesday, as it was revealed that lefty Chris Sale "came up a little sore in his elbow" following Sunday's live batting practice session and has undergone an MRI.

Sale missed most of the final two months of 2019 with a sprained ligament in his elbow. He underwent platelet-rich plasma injections last fall and didn't require surgery on the elbow.

But the fact that Sale experienced soreness after facing hitters for the first time since last August is surely an ominous sign. The Red Sox medical staff has already reviewed the MRI, which has been forwarded to orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews for further consultation.

Sale felt the soreness Monday morning, the day after the 15-pitch BP session.

"Obviously, we're concerned about it,'' said manager Ron Roenicke. "But until we get results, I really don't have much more to tell you.''

"There's some concern,'' acknowledged chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, "knowing how his 2019 went and knowing how important he is to us. But until we have all the information we don't want to start speculating unnecessarily.

"Anytime something like this happens, it's going to make you concerned. But we also know that in the course of building up, when you do hit these milestones, sometimes you can get sore. He hasn't faced hitters in a long time. So again, I think to speculate too much would be irresponsible. But needless to say, everything has gone so well to this point. This is our first bump in the road. Hopefully it just a bump in the road, but you can't help but be somewhat concerned.''

BSJ ANALYSIS



Sale, of course, is the Red Sox top starter and his five-year, $145-million contract is only just now kicking in, further adding to the team's worries. There had been anxiety over Sale's physical well-being since he was shut down with two months remaining last season, but as he progressed throughout the off-season and tested the shoulder with side sessions, it appeared as though the Sox had dodged a bullet.

Now, that is far from clear, potentially putting Sale's 2020 season -- and beyond -- in jeopardy.

The ace had already been dealing with the after-effects of the flu and mild pneumonia, putting him about two weeks behind the rest of the starters in camp and sapping his strength. It had been announced that Sale would not be part of the Opening Day roster, but Tuesday's news could be far more ominous.

Any hope the Sox had of being somewhat competitive in the American League East in 2020 was based on a return to health for both Sale and fellow starter Nathan Eovaldi. Eovaldi has been highly impressive in his Grapefruit League outings.

But as Sale waits to learn his fate, the Sox' season hangs in the balance. If he needs to undergo Tommy John surgery, he would, of course, be lost for the entirety of the 2020 season and the first few months of 2021 as well.

The Red Sox' rotation was depleted with the recent trade of David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the free-agent defection of Rick Porcello (one year, $10 million with the New York Mets). The Sox added free agent Martin Perez in the offseason, but he is a decided back-end option, coming off a season in which he registered a 5.12 ERA and saw his effectiveness decline so precipitously that he was left off the Twins' playoff roster last October.

Already, the Sox were contemplating the use of an opener to fill the vacant No. 5 spot in the rotation. The team has a host of No. 5 candidates, led by Ryan Weber and a number of journeyman types acquired over the course of the winter.

But it goes without saying that the team has no in-house replacement for Sale, who has been among the game's most dominant starters over the last decade, having earned Top 5 Cy Young Award finishes from 2013-2018.

His importance grew with the trade of Price, who, while experiencing arm and wrist issues of his own in 2019, was nevertheless an accomplished and experienced starter who helped pitch the Sox to a 2018 World Series victory.

Eovaldi possesses some of the best stuff of any starter in the game, with a fastball that can touch 100 mph and an assortment of breaking pitches and off-speed pitches to boot. But he, too, has had issues with durability, having only once amassed more than 160 innings in his career. He's also undergone two Tommy John surgeries previously and undergone procedures to remove bone chips in the elbow in each of the previous two seasons.