Chris Sale is a competitor, this much we know, but his excitement watching his team from the dugout is the same when he watches it from the comfort of his own home.
The Boston Red Sox pitcher underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020 and has not pitched in a game since the 2019 Major League Baseball season. Sale has been rehabbing and is making steady progress, with his latest outing coming with the Portland Sea Dogs in which he struck out six batters over 3 2/3 scoreless innings.
Sale has been spending time around the Red Sox, and is excited to rejoin the rotation during a season that's been exceeding many expectations. And even when he can't cheer on his team in person, he will do so in his home -- and the energy appears to be the same.
"I catch most of the games," Sale told reporters after his outing, per The Boston Globe's Greg Levinsky. "I get loud sometimes. Even my wife will say, 'What are you hollering at?' Like when someone gets a punch out, I go, 'ya!' or just make random noises in the house. My oldest son is really, really locked into baseball right now. If we're not watching the Red Sox, we're watching another team in the AL hoping they lose. It's just fun. I have fun watching my teammates succeed, and that's part of what this is: succeeding and having fun. When you wear this uniform it comes with some stuff, and they've handled that well and just got to keep it rolling."
We're sure the Red Sox -- and their fans -- are antsy to see Sale cheer on his team with that excitement in the coming weeks as he inches closer to a return.
