To the surprise of nobody, the Boston Red Sox named Chris Sale the Opening Day starter when the regular season gets underway March 28 against the Seattle Mariners.
The lefty started on Opening Day last season and started Game 1 in every series of the postseason en route to the Red Sox winning the World Series.
Sale has been on a strict pitching schedule in spring training, but looked utterly dominant in his first spring training start on Saturday, fanning seven batters in four innings.
That certainly gave an extra jolt of confidence to Sox manager Alex Cora, who said choosing Sale for Opening Day was “very simple.”
To hear more from Cora on the announcement, check out the “NESN Sports Today” video above, presented by People’s United Bank.
