Target Return Date Set For Trio Of Rehabbing Red Sox Pitchers

The Boston Red Sox have seen Chris Sale, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck make five separate trips to the injured list in 2023, combining to miss more than 200 days of work with various injuries.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that an end is in sight for all three pitchers.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora hopes to have all three rehabbing pitchers back with Boston by its series against the Washington Nationals that begins Aug. 15, according to Ian Browne of MLB.com. The expectation is that Sale could pitch the weekend before at Fenway Park against the Detroit Tigers if all goes well in his next rehab assignment.

The boost all three could give the Red Sox would go a long way in helping ease some of the tension coming out of Tuesday’s Major League Baseball trade deadline. Their impending returns were part of the reason Boston took such a measured approach, after all.

Sale’s return would be just the latest in a long line, as the 34-year-old has spent more time on the injured list than the mound since 2020. He pitched well before his latest injury, compiling a 2.87 ERA across 47 innings pitched in his last eight starts.

Whitlock is a bit of the unknown, as he has gone to the IL three times this season. The 27-year-old made a total of 10 starts before his latest trip, ballooning his ERA to 5.23 across 51 2/3 innings. In a year where he went seven innings and allowed just one run, he also had blow up starts of allowing more than five runs in less than four innings.

Houck has been the model of consistency compared to his two injured teammates, keeping his ERA between 4.29 and 5.48 across his 13 starts. It took a freak accident to put him on the shelf, though his absence would wind up one day short of two months if he does return on Cora’s target date.

The Red Sox have kept their heads above water thanks to brilliant performances by Brayan Bello, James Paxton, Kutter Crawford and the duo of Brennan Bernardino and Nick Pivetta, but there’s no doubt the additions of Sale, Whitlock and Houck will help — even if they don’t come in traditional roles.