Sale to meet with Dr. Andrews on Monday
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BOSTON -- Ailing Red Sox ace Chris Sale will fly to Pensacola, Fla. on Monday to visit the most renowned elbow specialist in sports -- Dr. James Andrews.
Sale will be accompanied by Red Sox head trainer Brad Pearson to get a better handle on the extent of the left elbow injury that led to his placement on the 10-day injured list on Saturday.
The initial diagnosis from the MRI conducted by the Red Sox was inflammation.
But president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made it clear on Saturday that the team would wait for the opinion of Andrews and perhaps others before providing more details of what is next for Sale.
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Red Sox manager Alex Cora said that as of Sunday morning, Sale wasn’t scheduled to meet with anyone else beyond Andrews.
Cora added that the fact Sale hasn’t spoken to the media yet doesn’t indicate anything about the severity of the injury.
“He’ll be back Tuesday,” said Cora. “I actually just talked to him. He just wants to make sure he has all the facts before he talks to you guys. He wants to see where we’re at with it and all the opinions that he wants to get, and then he goes from there. It’s not that he’s hiding from you guys. He just wants to be straight up and have all the information when he talks to you guys, which I think is fair.”
Price making progress
While Sale is out for an indefinite amount of time, lefty David Price could be back in the near future.
Price, who is sidelined due to a cyst on his left wrist, threw a bullpen session on Saturday at Fenway Park. The plan is for Price to throw again in the bullpen on Tuesday, at which point the Red Sox will determine his next step.
Is it possible Price returns for the eight-game West Coast trip that starts on Friday?
“We have to wait for Tuesday to see where he’s at,” said Cora.
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Tuesday TBD
Cora is still unsure who will start in Sale’s place on Tuesday night against the Phillies. He said the team will use Monday’s off-day to make that determination.
The Red Sox have the option of moving Andrew Cashner back to the rotation just a week after he was sent to the bullpen. But Cora said those discussions are still ongoing. Cashner has been far more effective in his first two relief outings for the club than he was in his six starts after the trade from the Orioles.
The only starters in the current rotation are Eduardo Rodriguez, Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi.
Porcello will start Wednesday against Philadelphia. Rodriguez and Eovaldi should be able to start the first two games in San Diego over the weekend. After that, the Sox will again have decisions to make.