The time finally has come and Boston Red Sox fans will be able to see Chris Sale on the mound in a Major League Baseball game for the first time in two years and one day.
Sale completed a rehab assignment last week that spanned five games. The hard-throwing lefty amassed a 1.35 ERA with 35 strikeouts during that time.
The Red Sox will be cautious with Sale and treat August like April as he eases back into a normal workload. It also probably will help that the southpaw will face the lowly Baltimore Orioles, who the Red Sox beat handily 8-1 on Friday.
But at the end of day, both Alex Cora and Nick Pivetta are just excited to see Sale make his return in front of fans and family.
"It should be fun. It's been two years and one day since he has pitched at the big league level," Cora said after the game over Zoom. "Obviously we want good results, obviously we want to win the game. But this is more about the individual, and the fact that his family is gonna be here, it's gonna be a packed house hopefully tomorrow, the K men will primly be out there. It should be great. Looking forward to that, and hopefully use that boost we're looking for. Today was cool but tomorrow, I'm excited, I'm really excited."
Pivetta echoed his manager's sentiments.
"I'm really, really excited. Chris works his tail off every single day, and he's been working really hard for the past two years or so," he said. "It's really gonna be big for him, too. I think he's just as excited as we are. So, we're excited to see him go out there compete and do what he does and do what he loves. I think it's really gonna be a lot of fun tomorrow. I know there's gonna be a lot of fans out there cheering for him. I know his family's gonna be there. We're all gonna be there for him. And w'ere all just excited to see what he's got and see him have fun on the baseball field."
Be sure to catch all the action at 4:10 p.m. ET.
