Chris Sale the New What?

By now I'm sure you've heard that Chris Sale has been lifted from the rotation and dropped at the back of the bullpen to become the new Sox closer.

The reasoning, or at least what we we were told, is because Sale has experienced some tenderness in his elbow.

An injury.  Remember when Quentin got hurt, did we move him to shortstop afterwards?  How bout Derrick Rose, is he the new power forward?  Cutler to play DB?  No no no.  You do not change a guy's position to account for an injury.

Now we've all heard of guys getting old and no longer being able to play the field.  Instead of them hitting 4 times and playing the field, instead they just hit 4 times.  That makes sense.

But moving a starter to a closer?  100 pitches in 1 day, rest for 4, then do it again.  Or, 20-30 pitches 3 out of 5 games or so, and warm up every once in a while and not get in the game.

Sure you are saving about 20 or so pitches a week, but what about stress?  Every pitch a closer throws is a high stress pitch.  Think the guy with tenderness can handle that every other day? 

Chris Sale should be out for the rest of the year.  He should be shut down, and should be spending the next 10 months strengthening his arm.  This guy has top notch quality stuff.  He could be an ace.  And now we are going to stick him at the back end of the bullpen and hope he has the right mentality to get the job done. 

Oh yeah, and all of this was done without consulting Chris, and against his will.  Nice.  Good way to treat the best prospect you have for your future. 

Chris Sale is the Best Starter We Have

I know, it was one game, against the Indians, in April.  But Chris Sale is the best thing the Sox have in the starting staff.  I like Danks, I like Gavin, I like healthy Peavy, but none of these guys currently have what Sale does.

Sale was great out of the pen last year, but he's built to be a starter.  He mixed his pitches, he over powered guys when he had to, he really just completely dominated the Indians tonight.

And he's been doing it.  Take a look at what he did all Spring.  He pretty much dominated all month long, and it has now officially extended into this year.

Sale saved 12 games and held 18 more last year.  Doing this with a sub 2.5 ERA and a WHIP that hovered around the 1.00 (finished at 1.10) mark all year.

But this year, he looks to be back where he belongs.  He threw 6.2 innings, struck out 5, and threw 100 pitches.  The last being the most impressive to me.  First career start after half a season coming out of the pen, and he's able to go for 100 pitches.  And, he got better as the game went on.  Before hitting the Korean (sorry for calling him Japanese earlier) Choo in the hand, he had retired 10 in a row.

Sale didn't have a tough inning.  Not even one.  4 hitters in the 1st, 5 in the 2nd, 3 in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th.  5 in the 6th (allowed 1 run), and just the 2 he faced in the 7th.

Fantastic start tonight, and a very promising future.  I heard him referred to a number of times as a "possible ace."  I'm not going to crown him that yet, but he's well on his way.  (And I will probably put that crown on in about a 2 or 3 more starts.)