Red Sox’s Chris Sale Discusses Personal Medical Setback During Rehab

For Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale, his recovery from a fractured rib sustained in February has not been the smoothest of roads.

Sale has faced a few setbacks during the rehabilitation process, including a non-baseball related medical issue in early May. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom at the time described it as “a small personal medical issue — it’s not orthopedic, it’s not COVID-related.”

That has been the biggest bump in the road for Sale in his rehab, but he has made steady progress recently to the point that he joined the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Tuesday while he continues to work his way back from injury.

With reporters on hand prior to Boston opening a nine-game homestand by facing the Oakland Athletics, Sale discussed the setback he faced, but kept specific details private.

“I just had to take a week and a half off,” Sale told reporters, as transcribed by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “I had some stuff come up. Given some family history stuff, I had to check off some boxes for some scary things. Luckily, it all came back in the clear but I had something come up that, like I said, I had some family history things that happened with my grandfathers and things like that I just had to take care of.

“I have three sons. I have a family. I had to make sure that that was clean and clear before anything. It’s all resolved. Everything’s in the clear. Fortunately — or unfortunately for who’s watching this — I’m not going to die. We’ll be alright.”

After offering that explanation, Sale was asked if he could get into more specifics, but he declined.

“I don’t really want to get into it, but you know, just family stuff I had to take care of,” Sale said, per Speier.

It’s certainly great news that Sale is feeling as healthy as possible after that medical scare, as he looks to join the Red Sox in the near future, and quite possibly before the All-Star break.