BOSTON — When the Red Sox traded Chris Sale over the winter, it marked the end of what will go down as one of the worst contracts in Red Sox history. Signed after Sale helped the Red Sox win a World Series in 2018, the left-hander signed a five-year, $145 million deal with the Red Sox, only to start 31 games with a 3.93 ERA over four years during the life of the contract.
While Sale’s All-Star (and near Cy Young-worthy) performances in 2017 and 2018 were always appreciated in Boston, the offseason trade for Vaughn Grissom appeared to be nothing more than the Red Sox getting something in return for a lost asset.
Yet in Atlanta, the 35-year-old Sale has thus far managed to move past the litany of injuries that had pushed his career to the brink. And on Wednesday night, he’ll be facing his former team.
Sale enters Wednesday’s game in Atlanta having started six games, going 4-1 with a 3.44 ERA, 10.3 strikeouts per nine, and a WHIP of 0.955. He’s lasted at least five innings in all six of those starts, going seven innings in three consecutive starts from mid-April to the end of the month. He’s held opponents to three or fewer runs in all but one of his starts, and he’s coming off a season-high nine strikeouts, which he recorded in just five innings of work last time out against Seattle.