The Boston Red Sox will be without Chris Sale a little longer than originally planned.
The left-handed pitcher is recovering from a stress fracture in his rib suffered just before spring training began. Sale had been making steady progress in his rehab but hit a snag recently.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told reporters Saturday that Sale still could return in June, just later than expected.
"He's had a small personal medical issue -- it's not orthopedic, it's not COVID-related -- that paused his throwing for a while," Bloom told reporters, per MassLive's Christopher Smith. "And we want to respect the privacy of that. It's not baseball-related. He should be back throwing in a matter of days. But it's obviously slowing him down."
The good news for Boston and Sale? It's not related to his arm or rib. The bad news, though? It's still a setback that will keep Sale out of the rotation longer than the original timeline of early June.
"Obviously we haven't mapped it out yet but I think roughly speaking, we were hoping to have him back around when he was eligible," Bloom said. "I think we're probably talking a few weeks beyond that."
The Red Sox rotation, for the most part, has been fine this season and has kept the team in games, but a healthy Sale certainly would provide a boost.
Boston returns to action Saturday when it plays the middle game of its series against the Chicago White Sox. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 4:10 p.m. ET on NESN.
