The first month of the 2022 season has been a nightmare for the Boston Red Sox, and it only got worse on Saturday.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom revealed pitchers Chris Sale and James Paxton both suffered setbacks. Sale, who's on the 60-day injured list with a stress fracture in his right rib cage, is dealing with a non-baseball related issue.
“He’s had a small personal medical issue — it’s not orthopedic, it’s not COVID-related — that paused his throwing for a while,” Bloom said on Saturday. “And we want to respect the privacy of that. It’s not baseball-related. He should be back throwing in a matter of days. But it’s obviously slowing him down."
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SIGN UP HERE Sale is eligible to come off the IL on June 6, but his latest setback is expected to delay his return even further.
“Obviously we haven’t mapped it out yet but I think roughly speaking, we were hoping to have him back around when he was eligible,” Bloom said. “I think we’re probably talking a few weeks beyond that."
As for Paxton, the southpaw is experiencing posterior elbow soreness and has stopped throwing. He underwent Tommy John surgery in April of 2021 and had been expected to return sometime this summer. It's unclear how his setback will affect his return date.
The Red Sox currently find themselves last in the American League East standings with a 10-17 record. They'll look to get on the right track when they host the Chicago White Sox at 4:10 p.m. ET.