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Chris Sale 2022 Player Outlook: Skill Is Still There, But Starting Season On 60-Day IL
3 years agoBoston Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale (rib) returned for the end of the 2021 regular season after missing most of the season as well as the entirety of the 2020 season recovering from elbow injuries and Tommy John surgery. The nine starts he did turn in looked pretty good overall, going 5-1 with a 3.16 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and 28.4% strikeout rate. The results were encouraging, but a new recent injury, a right rib stress fracture will start the 33-year-old on the 60-day injured list for the 2022 season, sidelining him for at least two months. It is disappointing for both Sale and fantasy managers, as his 2021 performance put him at an average draft position as high as the 50s earlier in the off-season. Sale hasn't pitched close to 200 innings since 2017 and has appeared in only nine games since the end of the 2019 season. His overall ADP has already fallen to about 97, but, despite the skills he showed last season, his injury risks make him a late-round pick at best in remaining fantasy drafts.
