Chris Sale Gets MRI on His Elbow: What Should the Chicago White Sox Do?
The Chicago White Sox are taking the 13-year old teenage girl approach with pitcher Chris Sale. Like, I like him as a starter, but like, I don’t know if he’s a good long-term option, so like, maybe I’ll use him as a reliever and keep things safe, like maybe we’ll just be friends, but like, I don’t know if he should start. Ugh, like seriously maybe I’ll just wait a couple weeks and see if he like likes me. Make up your minds Chicago White Sox!
After failing to record the save in last night’s 5-3 win over the Cleveland Indians, news came out today that Chris Sale is going to have an MRI on his elbow. While having a MRI is never a good thing, I’m not going to panic yet assuming it’s just an exploratory MRI to see if there is any damage to his pitching elbow. If the MRI checks out, Chris Sale might head back into the starting rotation, with Addison Reed assuming the closing duties.
Health concerns aside, this is by far the best decision the team could make. Chris Sale proved he can start in the Big Leagues, it’s just a durability issue with him. In regards to Addison Reed, he’s easily the White Sox best reliever and should have closed games from the get-go. But I have my own theory on why Reed isn’t the closer, and it’s strictly financial.
The Chicago White Sox have plenty of experience in dealing with rookie closers, given that Bobby Jenks was with the team from 2005-2010. During that stretch, Jenks racked up the saves, allowing him to earn millions of dollars during arbitration in the process. In Jenks’ last year with the White Sox, he made over $8 million due to the way arbitration works.
If the Chicago White Sox close games with Addison Reed now, he will rack up around 150-200 saves by the time his clock is up, costing the White Sox millions of dollars in the process. Hopefully that’s the reason behind Reed not closing, because it doesn’t make any sense otherwise.
I’m praying this MRI comes out positive for Chris Sale, since the White Sox need him now and for the future. If his elbow is fine, disable him, let him start, and use Addison Reed as closer. At the very least, make up your mind and stop “Jobaing” him by dangling between the bullpen and starting rotation.
Bryan is a featured writer for Rant Sports. Although he concentrates mostly on the game of baseball, you can find him covering things all over the Rant Sports Network.
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DL him, as there is no sense in risking him getting hurt worse at this stage in his career. Sale is the future of this pitching staff and a key member of this staff this year, and the White Sox need to make sure he is healthy come June-July-August.
In addition, I can’t help but be reminded of Peavy’s situation in 2010. Peavy felt discomfort in his shoulder going into his start against the Washington Nationals on June 19, but ended up throwing 107 (June 19th @ WSH), 99 (June 25th vs. CHC), and 100 pitches (June 30th @ KC) over his next three starts in spite of that. The fourth start was the infamous start at home against the Angels during which Peavy’s right lat muscle sheared off the bone. I’m not saying that that for sure will happen to Sale, but I do hope that the White Sox will take every precaution to prevent that from happening.