How Red Sox Will Help Chris Sale Improve After ‘Robotic’ Performance

Chris Sale was tremendous in his April 18 start against the Minnesota Twins, drawing call backs to his vintage performances of the past. On Monday, the Red Sox were hoping he could repeat that success.

He did not.

Sale struggled in a 5-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on Monday, allowing five earned runs on nine hits across five innings pitched. The performance was a historic one, as it marked the first start of Sale’s Major League career in which he did not record a single strikeout despite going at least five innings. The 34-year-old was understandably frustrated after the loss, harking back to the work he has put in to return from a string of injuries.

The Red Sox think a tad more work could be the difference in helping Sale turn things around, however.

“I think mechanically there’s something that we might adjust,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Tuesday, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. “We’ve got to get him to be more athletic on the mound. That’s something we noticed. He’s a little bit too stiff. Kind of like robotic if you want to call it that.”

Though “mechanical issues” can sound scary, the good news for Red Sox fans is that Sale is familiar with this kind of work.

The 13-year veteran has done plenty of tooling with his mechanics over the years, meaning such a task is essentially another day at the office. The Red Sox will hope that the inconsistent start is just that, with Sale able to turn things around and become one of Boston’s most reliable starters once again.