How Red Sox ‘Bulldog’ Chris Sale Impacted Eduardo Rodríguez

Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodríguez, former Red Sox teammates, will meet again during Detroit’s three-game trip to Boston with the series starting Friday night.

Coupled with an already sentimental visit back to Boston, Rodríguez will get a front-row seat to the highly-anticipated return of Sale, who last pitched on June 1. The two left-handers played five seasons together in a Red Sox uniform, both helping take down the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 World Series.

But helping Rodríguez attain his first ring was the least Sale provided the 30-year-old during his run with Boston.

“He’s a bulldog, you know,” Rodríguez told reporters Friday, per Bally Sports video. “Every time he was going out there, for me, it was a pleasure just sitting in the dugout and watch him pitching every time. And like I said, I’m gonna have the opportunity to watch him pitch again today coming back from (the) injury list.

“He was one of the guys that helped me a lot on every way — in the field, out the field, pitching. I was going to him, (asking) questions about some hitters, how to attack some hitters, my presence on the field. Like how do I attack, how to think against the hitters, be aggressive all the time. So he was one of those mentors that I (was) glad I had the opportunity to play with.”

Before landing on the injured list, Sale had up-and-down showings on the mound, recording a 4.58 ERA over the course of 11 starts this season. That came following a premature ending to the 2022 season, in which Sale made just two starts, marking 36 pitching appearances from 2019 to 2022.

That’s created a constant trend for Sale in Boston, which Rodríguez saw first-hand. In 2019, Sale hit the 60-day injured list with left elbow inflammation. In 2020, he was out for the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. And in 2021, Sale made just nine starts and was placed on the COVID-19 list in September — a timeline that’s still hampering Sale even beyond Rodríguez’s playing time in Boston.

“It feels good, it feels amazing to be back with whatever team, again,” Rodríguez said. “… I had a lot of good memories here and it feels good to be back here.”

Rodríguez, who signed with the Tigers as a free agent in 2021, will officially make his Fenway Park return in the series finale between Boston and Detroit on Sunday. It’s been a long-anticipated return to Boston for Detroit lefty, last pitching in front of the Red Sox home crowd two seasons ago.