Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale to undergo Tommy John surgery

As it turns out, we can still get actual baseball related news even amidst an unprecedented shutdown of organized sports as we know it. Despite the nature of this news, it pleases us to talk about SOMETHING related to baseball.

Chris Sale has been one of the better pitchers in the American League for several years now. However, his 2019 season did not go as planned. After signing a five year, $145 million extension before the season, Sale started off the season pitching poorly and, after a bit of a midseason rebound, he was placed on the injured list with elbow inflammation. While Tommy John surgery wasn’t recommended at the time, the injury did cost him the rest of his season.

Flash forward to this offseason but before all of this coronavirus stuff. It was already known information that Sale was not going to be ready for 2020 Opening Day because his rehab had been delayed due to illness. Now, with no real idea as to when baseball will actually begin play, it looks like Sale is finally going under the knife.

Obviously this means that Sale will miss all of the 2020 season (or however much of it actually ends up happening) and it is likely he will miss a good chunk of the 2021 season as well. That will put him at the age of 32 before he throws a pitch again and that will be coming right off a major surgery. Not great news if you are a Boston fan especially given how much money the Red Sox still owe him.