Chris Sale has been the best pitcher in baseball when he’s taken the mound this season, which unfortunately hasn’t been as often as the Boston Red Sox would have hoped for. A pair of trips to the disabled list with shoulder inflammation have limited Sale’s workload to the point where it may cost him the chance at his first Cy Young award.
Sale leads the league with a sparkling 1.96 ERA but won’t win the ERA title unless he reaches the minimum 162 innings. The lefty currently sits at 147 innings this season. There’s time remaining in the regular season for Sale to receive only three more starts, which may not be enough given the expectation that Boston will monitor their ace’s workload with extreme caution.