Boston Red Sox Provide Game-Changing Injury Update on Left-Hander Chris Sale

The Boston Red Sox could be ready to get left-hander Chris Sale back earlier than anyone expected.

The Boston Red Sox, who entered play on Wednesday at 1.5 games back in the American League wild card race, revealed some potentially game-changing news on injured left-handed ace Chris Sale.

The following update comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:

Sale (shoulder) will begin a rehab assignment Tuesday if he gets through Thursday's live batting practice session with no issues, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

ANALYSIS
The live BP session will come after Sale completed another bullpen session over the weekend. The Red Sox have discussed the possibility of bringing the left-hander back early and have him get built back up at the big-league level, so it's possible he could make just the one rehab start. Sale has been out since early June with a stress reaction in his left scapula.

Not only is it huge that Sale may start a rehab assignment in less than a week, it's also huge that he may only need one rehab appearance.

The Red Sox have been playing with just three healthy starting pitchers so adding Sale in would be massive, though it is noteworthy that they mention building him up at the major league level, leaving you to believe that he may not be ready to assume a big load when first activated.

For the season, he's 5-2 with a 4.58 ERA. He's struck out 71 batters in 59 innings and had really gotten in a groove prior to hitting the injured list.

For his career, he's a seven-time All-Star selection who helped the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series.

The Red Sox play the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. ET.

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