The Boston Red Sox will start the season shorthanded when it comes to pitching, but they did receive some updates on both Chris Sale and James Paxton.
Sale suffered a stress fracture in his ribcage in March that will cause him to miss Opening Day. The injury will keep the southpaw sidelined for over a month and certainly leaves a hole in the Red Sox rotation. Sale underwent an MRI on Friday to see how his ribs are healing.
Manager Alex Cora told reporters after Boston's spring training loss to the Tampa Bay Rays that the MRI showed "some healing," according to MLB.com's Ian Browne. It's unclear when Sale will begin throwing again and they will base it on his symptoms.
Sale told reporters earlier this week he believed he was "ahead of schedule" but we won't have a real timeline for when he will return to the mound until he begins throwing.
Paxton, meanwhile, underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2021 and signed with the Red Sox in December. He is expected to return at some point in the second half of the season.
"Hate to compare situations, but we can put it this way: compared to where Chris was and where James is right now, he’s a little bit ahead of him at this point last year," Cora told reporters, per MassLive's Chris Cotillo. "... His mechanics are a little bit different, too, just to ease the stress on the shoulder and the elbow. But it's the way the ball is coming out of his hand. You can tell with these guys when rehab is going well. He's very upbeat, he has been great in the clubhouse and the training room. ..."
For now, the Red Sox are preparing for their Opening Day series against the New York Yankees in the Bronx on April 7.
