Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale provided fans with a slight sigh of relief on Friday. Boston’s ace indicated he is making further progress in his rehab and is throwing with more intensity.
More specifically, Sale told reporters that he was able to throw full tilt on Friday with maximum effort and walked away from the workout feeling fine.
Asked Chris Sale if he was doing more pitching than rehab at this point. “I would agree with that,” he said. He also said he was letting it go full tilt today and felt fine.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) August 31, 2018
It’s an important step forward for Sale, who was placed on the disabled list on August 18 with renewed inflammation in his shoulder.
While Sale is still without an exact timetable for a return, being able to shift his rehabilitation from being cleared to throw, and onto throwing with max effort, is a great sign in his recovery process.
Given Boston’s lead in the standings, it can feel fairly safe in bringing Sale along slowly until they know his shoulder is healthy. The Red Sox need him for the postseason, which should ultimately be the only timetable for a return they are focused on.