Sorry that my mojo sucked.
First series our pitching was awful. This series we can’t buy a run for the life of us. Wasted a great performance by Sale.
What?!?!?!?!
The guys velocity was down no doubt but come on. Outside of that first run he went 5 shut out innings and his last 3 innings went quickly as lightning. I believe a total of 16 pitches thrown in innings 4 and 5. Can’t remember 6. If he can do that every time he is out I want him out there. Believe it or not there is more to Sale than just the fast ball.
Yes I agree if it’s some serious injury then I don’t want to play him but I really don’t think it is. He was playing lights out after that first inning. That’s nonsense talk. Sorry don’t agree what so ever.
I went to bed after the 3rd inning, so I didn't witness first hand how dominating he ended up being. Maybe my statement was hyperbole. I'm just concerned because a diminished fastball means that guys can wait for that pitch and then jump all over it, like Seattle did on Opening Day.
I agree, he will run into trouble more without that 97 plus fast ball..... A lot of good hitting teams might give him trouble. But it's tough to rest a guy when he played as good as he did last night. If he has another game like he did against Seattle then I will really start to be concerned. Hard to believe his velocity has gone down that much, but that breaking ball was working wonders for him.
Not trying to put words in the other poster's keyboard but anybody that thinks that Sale can quickly convert from what he was last year and the bulk of his career to what he was doing last night needs his head examined. If not for his competitive nature I am not even convinced he could have done it last night. He struggled mightily and that by itself will take its toll. His pace was almost Price-like. What we saw last night might well be where Sale is going. But its not like turning on and off a light switch. If Sale's physical attributes are at the heart of this change, as in aging and wear, then he might make some number of starts this year and will likely get some wins this year. But be the force we were hoping for.......I highly doubt it.
If Sale is groping for a means to make starts early in the season while not taxing his arm fully intending to be the Chris Sale we have grown to appreciate later in the year that might be doable. But it still takes you back to the same place. He is clearly learning as he goes. He is either learning to live with reduced physical capacity or he is learning how to live with trying to save himself from reduced physical capacity later in the season by pitching this way early in the season. Either way it amounts to about the same thing with the exception that if it is the latter and not the former he might be better suited to being the Chris Sale we need later in the season.
The last possibility in Sale's case is the one I find least likely....that being that Cora simply did not allow him even enough work in ST to have worked out in advance how he wanted to pitch early in the season leaving him to learn on the fly now. I just don't see a pitcher of his calibre allowing that to happen to himself no matter who is managing.
In order of likelihood IMO:
50%: his ST was just too short and he's not ready (seems likely since all the other starters were held back in ST and they all got smoked recently)
25%: injury/tired arm from 2018
15%: SSS (weather, woke up on the wrong side of the bed, etc.)
5%: intentionally saving himself for later in the season
5%: pitchers are mad that Leon is in AAA