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Boston Red Sox fans were waiting a very long time for southpaw Chris Sale to return to the big leagues. On July 12, Sale made his first start of the season and threw five scoreless innings against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Sadly, his second start was a disaster from the beginning. Sale gave up a pair of runs in the first inning against the New York Yankees and then left after being hit in the hand by a line drive.
Sale suffered a nasty-looking broken finger, and you could see the frustration on Sale’s face after he left the game.
Chris Sale was hit by a comebacker and walks off the field with what certainly appears to be a broken finger
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) July 17, 2022
He left the game in another brutal injury chapter for Sale. After the game ended, Sale was asked about the brutal luck, and he dropped an NSFW response which clearly shows how frustrated he is.
Q: Unbelievable this happened again?
Sale: "No, it's par for the course honestly. Think about it. Think about my timeline. It's just been shit after shit after shit. It's more shit to deal with. What can you do? Everyone gets knocked down, it's how you get back up."
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) July 17, 2022
Sale missed the entire 2020 season, then made nine appearances in 2021. Here’s the latest injury history for Sale, and this is just unlucky.
Chris Sale’s injury’s since 2018:
2018 — Shoulder inflammation
2019 — Elbow injury
2020 — Tommy John surgery
2021 — More elbow discomfort
2022 — Rib injury
2022 — Broke/ dislocated fingerUnluckiest pitcher in baseball.
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) July 17, 2022
At his peak, Sale was one of the best pitchers in baseball, and Boston rewarded him with a five-year, $145 million contract, according to Spotrac.
Yet, who knows if Sale will pitch again in 2022. If he does, it won’t be for quite a while, and Red Sox fans will need to wait once again. Sale added another comment as well, this one more optimistic.
Chris Sale: "Two things I know for a fact right now. I have a lot of love in my corner, a lot of people who care about me and want me to succeed. And somebody somewhere is having a worse day than I am right now. And that's a fact."
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) July 17, 2022
Nonetheless, you just have to feel sorry for Chris Sale.