The Boston Red Sox are taking it easy with Chris Sale this spring, but the Cy Young Award runner-up already looks to be in midseason form.
Sale made his first start of the spring Friday afternoon in Jupiter, Fla., against the Miami Marlins — and so far, so good.
Sale pitched four innings against the Fish, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out five and not walking a batter. Sale faced 14 batters, throwing 58 pitches, 41 of them for strikes.
The big left-hander also had the radar gun popping.
It’s a relatively late to start to the spring slate for Sale, which has been the plan from the beginning. Sale mentioned as far back as January that the Red Sox were going to ease him into action with the hopes of keeping him strong for the entire season. After a dominant start to the 2017 campaign — his first in Boston — Sale faltered down the stretch and struggled at times.
