New Red Sox Ace Chris Sale Already Making Great Impressions
New Boston Red Sox lefty Chris Sale is already standing out in spring training. Both his unique style of pitching and work ethic has teammates marveling.
When you are a 6-foot-6 pitcher, it isn’t hard to stand out. New Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale isn’t just standing tall early in camp, he is making some great impressions with his new teammates.
Acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Chicago White Sox during Winter Meetings, Sale comes over to the Red Sox as part of possibly the best 1-2-3 punch in baseball. As both David Price and 2016 Cy Young Award-winner Rick Porcello had rocky starts to their careers in Boston, Sale is hoping to end that trend and it looks as though he is off to a good start.
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According to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald, Sale beat out his peers in sprints at the end of an early morning workout Friday (Feb.10) at JetBlue Park. He also showcased his pitching style during a bullpen throwing session along with Price and Porcello.
While catcher Sandy Leon used adjectives like “funky,” “tough,” and “nasty” to describe Sale’s unique delivery, Porcello lauded the work ethic and preparation of his new teammate.
"“How hard he works and his preparation, it’s no coincidence that he’s been one of the top left-handed pitchers in the game,” Porcello said told Mastrodonato via the Boston Herald. “And the same with David, when he came over and when I first started playing with David. Those guys are at the top of their game for a reason and it’s how hard they work, how hard they prepare. That was the first thing I noticed.”"
Sale hopes to have the type of season Porcello had in his second season with Boston rather than the up-and-down first season Price had.
Related Story: Chris Sale Sounds Super Excited to Join Team
2017 Projections
According to the Bill James Handbook, Chris Sale will have a solid season. James projects the tall lefty will make 33 starts with a 16-10 record and a 3.04 ERA in 231 innings pitched.
I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be closer to 20 wins barring any meltdown like the one he had that caused him to cut up uniforms with the White Sox. The Boston Red Sox have a far better offense than Chicago had and with run support he should get a few more wins.
He is also very good against the AL East. What could balance things out is he has struggled at Fenway Park, but a lot of pitchers have struggled against the Red Sox lineup.
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