Heading into the 2017 season, one of the big storylines surrounding the Boston Red Sox was the new loaded front-end of their starting pitching rotation thanks to the addition of Chris Sale to a group that already included two American League Cy Young Award winners in Rick Porcello and David Price.
The Red Sox have yet to see all three pitch due to Price’s elbow injury, but that will change Monday when he’s scheduled to take the mound in Chicago against the White Sox.
Price wasn’t very strong in his two rehab starts with Triple-A Pawtucket, but Sale is excited to see his new teammate take the mound.
“That’s not an easy road for anybody,” Sale told WEEI.com on Thursday. “He’s got a lot of critics, too. It’s going to be fun to watch out there. Everybody knows he wants to be out there. If he’s not the first one here every day, he’s one of the first ones. That’s for damn sure. He’s been the same guy. A lot of times when you’re on the DL or hurt or something like that, you kind of get down a little bit and you kind of get a little closed off. I haven’t seen that one time.”
And Sale further defended Price against his critics.
“It’s 2017, man. We’ve got Twitter. A lot of people with voices that don’t deserve it,” he said, via WEEI.com. “I don’t think anybody in here is going to say anything bad about him. He’s worked his butt off. You look at his track record, it speaks for itself. Nobody is more excited than him, but we’re all in here in second-place waiting for it. It’s going to be fun. It’s been a long road. It’s been a long time. When you can’t do what you’re supposed to do, it’s tough. But he hasn’t changed throughout it all and that speaks a lot about his character and who he is as a teammate and who he is as a competitor.”
And the baseball world soon will see the two star teammates on the same pitching rotation.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
