Sale takes important step with BP session

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- As the ball towered off the bat of Red Sox prospect Josh Ockimey and crashed off the netting beyond the right-field fence, ace Chris Sale dead-panned, “I guess we’ll end on that one.”

Behind the batting cage, where just about the entire Boston pitching staff huddled to watch Sale, laughter ensued.

It had been six-and-a-half months since Sale last threw to a hitter before he got to take that step again on Sunday morning.

And it was a step Sale was going to enjoy, even if the 15-pitch live BP session concluded with Ockimey’s homer.

“He was excited. He’s been itching to do it for a while,” said Red Sox pitching coach Dave Bush. “We’re trying to make sure we do it at the right steps so that he does it in a way that’s going to allow him to be healthy when he is ready. But he was ready for it. He looked good. Physically he felt good. He’ll get out there again I guess four days from now, have a little bit more, and hopefully a game not too far from that.”

For now, it isn’t about the results for Sale. It’s all about the process.

“I thought he looked good,” said Bush. “It was an important step in the progression to the spring. It was a full pre-game routine with long toss and time in the bullpen, then 15 pitches on the mound. It was a normal step for him. He felt pretty good; I thought he looked pretty good.”

Sale’s final start of 2019 was on Aug. 13. His elbow stiffened up a few days later, and the lefty has been building back ever since.

The reason this spring has gone slower than planned isn’t due to Sale’s arm, but an inconveniently timed case of the flu and pneumonia in early February.

Look for Sale to miss two starts in the rotation when the season opens, and then slot back in around April 7 -- the first day he is eligible.

Until then, all eyes will be on Sale to make sure everything goes smoothly. He is as important to the success of the 2020 Red Sox as any player on the team.

To Kevin Plawecki, who was crouched behind the plate to catch Sale, the stuff looked pretty good.

“It’s still got that funk to it,” Plawecki said of Sale’s slider. “It’s a lot easier when I know it’s coming rather than facing it. I’ve been looking forward to catching him ever since I signed here so it was good to get back there and see him first-hand, and everything looked really good.

“Everything looked good to me, it was coming in good, the slider looked great, changeup looked good, he had good life to his fastball, so all in all, I think it went pretty well.”

A few days ago, interim manager Ron Roenicke joked that it wasn’t easy to find volunteers to step in against Sale. So the Red Sox enlisted non-roster invites Jantzen Witte and Ockimey as the two who got to face Sale on Sunday.

“He looked really good,” said Ockimey. “Fastball was definitely coming in there. I know I really didn’t have a chance to hit the slider. But yeah, everything still looked really good.”

Ockimey was more ready for Sale this time than when he was told to face him in live BP three years ago.

“In 2017, he threw a slider and it looked like the thing was in the dugout and it ended up coming across the plate,” Ockimey said. “It’s very uncomfortable.”

Ockimey was glad that Sale didn’t take the home run too personally.

“Yeah, just having fun,” Ockimey said of Sale’s reaction. “That’s all it is.”

Look for Sale to throw two innings of BP on Thursday. A few days after that, he should pitch in his first Grapefruit League game.

“He feels healthy,” Bush said. “All the issues he had last year are behind him at this point. The buildup is the same as it would be for any other pitcher. That’s probably the most important thing, that he is on track and on time.

“Other than being delayed from being sick, his progression is on track and on time with where I’d expect it to be. That will allow him when he’s ready to go into the season without any restrictions. He can pitch and be the guy he wants to be.”