Chris Sale is a clubhouse cancer! Despicable!
http://www.masslive.com/redsox/index.ssf/2018/03/jason_groome_chris_sale_pushed.html#incart_river_index
When Red Sox top pitching prospect Jason Groome got a text from an unknown number last winter claiming to be from Chris Sale, he thought one of his friends was pulling a prank on him.
Groome checked with a mutual friend. The number did indeed belong to Boston's ace starter.
Sale, who lives in Naples, found out that Groome was living on his own in Fort Myers and figured he could use a workout partner.
"It's not like I'm going to teach him anything profound," Sale said. "Just like hey this is your first year down here and in the organization, I live down here, and I've got a guy I work out with and kind of show him what it's like to put work in in the offseason."
Sale has worked out for years at a Naples gym called Beyond Motion where part of his training includes Pilates. The core strength and flexibility that Pilates promotes is a nice compliment to the rest of Sale's offseason work. He thought it might work for Groome, too.
The 19-year-old lefty had never done Pilates before, but was willing to try anything Sale suggested despite being a little nervous at first.
"I grew up watching him and he asked me to work out so I was really pumped up that he even went out of his way to arrange that," Groome said. "It was just so cool to be a part of his offseason."
Groome worked out at JetBlue Park on Mondays and Tuesdays and then spent Wednesdays doing Pilates at Beyond Motion with Sale and sometimes Rick Porcello. Thursdays and Fridays were back to lifting sometimes at Beyond Motion and other times at the park.
Groome was well accustomed to the Red Sox strength program, but Pilates was something completely different and harder than he imagined.
"The first couple sessions I guess it didn't live up to the hype and I guess in my head I was like 'Oh that isn't too bad,'" Groome said. "But then after the first two it really, it hurts but it works in a very good way. I noticed it because I would go in there some days sore after squatting the day before, and I would wake up the next morning and not be nearly as sore as I was on Tuesday morning."
Having Groome as a workout partner also pushed the competitor in Sale. While both are 6-foot-6 lefties, Groome has about 40 pounds on Sale.
"It's always nice for me to have someone to work out with pushing you and keeping you in check," Sale said. "He's a lot stronger than I am. You've got a guy 10 years younger than you, lifting twice as much, it'll stroke your ego and motivate you a little bit, too, so it was fun though. I think we both got something out of it."
The offseason workouts with Sale put Groome in a good position for a healthy 2018 season. Last year, his first full year in professional baseball, Groome missed a large chunk of time due to two separate injuries.
In his first start of the year for Single-A Greenville he suffered a mild lat strain and missed a month and a half. When he returned in June, he made three starts in Short-Season Lowell and 10 starts in Greenville before a forearm strain ended his season.
Groome had been receiving regular treatment on his arm and elbow from the training staff, but after a start in late August, he didn't feel right the following day. He told the training staff and with just a month left in the season, they opted to shut him down.
Despite the injuries and a 5.69 ERA over 14 starts, Groome, Boston's 2016 first-round pick, still ranked as a top 100 prospect in baseball and the top overall prospect in the Boston system in all the preseason projections.
Groome took three months off from throwing following the forearm strain and didn't pick up a ball again until December. But over the past three months, he's been on a regular schedule and hasn't felt any issues with his arm or lat muscle.
"Besides being hurt, I just look at that season as a big learning season for me," he said. "Just going into my full season and just finding my routine once I got back to being healthy but just learning was the biggest thing for me last year and especially with my body. Knowing when my body has had too much and when to take off. It wasn't an unsuccessful season last year, I can say that."
An offseason working out with Sale helped put the injury-riddled 2017 season behind him.
"I put in a lot of work this offseason so I feel like my body is right where it needs to be at," Groome said. "I'm just ready to get after it this year."
