BOSTON -- Chris Sale was having a blast being a baseball player again. And that’s why Friday’s development -- in which he was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder injury -- had him in a downcast mood as he discussed his first health issue of 2023.

Sale was injured in Thursday’s start -- his 11th of the season -- against the Reds, and was removed from the game with two outs in the fourth inning following a second visit from manager Alex Cora and assistant athletic trainer Masai Takahashi.

On Friday morning, Sale underwent an MRI. In the press release announcing that Sale was headed to the injured list, the Red Sox termed the injury as left shoulder inflammation.

However, Sale said he is still working with the medical staff to determine the precise nature of the injury.

“I’ve got something going on in my shoulder, obviously,” said Sale. “I still have some things I have to go through to finalize what the deal is, but obviously, [it’s] a hit nonetheless. I got an MRI [and a] CT scan. I think they’re looking over those right now. I think I have a couple more tests I have to go through until we can get a definitive answer. But still, obviously not the situation you want to be in, for sure.”

It sounds like it will be a few days until Sale has even a rough timetable of how long he will be out.

“I would say sometime next week, [I’ll know more],” said Sale. “Five, six, seven days. I talked to some of the doctors and [they] said at least within the next week, we'll know more. You guys know me. As soon as I find something out, I'll be sitting right here in front of you guys giving you guys the information you guys need to know.”

Sale underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020 and returned in August of ‘21, making nine starts during the regular season and three in the postseason.

But a series of freak injuries -- a stress fracture in his right rib cage, a broken left pinkie finger and a broken right wrist sustained in a bike accident -- limited him to two starts in 2022.

For the first time since 2019, Sale arrived at this past Spring Training without any health issues.

In a five-start run entering Thursday’s outing, Sale went 4-0 with a 2.23 ERA. For the season, he is 5-2 with a 4.58 ERA. Pitching in top form again made the latest injury harder to swallow, Sale acknowledged.

“Just disappointing,” said Sale. “I hate feeling like this. I started having fun playing baseball again, and now I’m back to not having fun. And that sucks. I was kind of getting used to sitting in front of you guys, talking about good stuff.  It’s been a rocky road. I felt like I was over the hump, I really did. I felt like I was back to being myself. So when something like this happens, it’s deflating.”

In Thursday night’s start, Sale came out firing, throwing a 96 mph heater in the first inning. But his velocity decreased to the low 90s during that outing, an obvious red flag.

“First inning was great. Second inning was kind of when it started happening. Third inning was not very good. And then that fourth inning, that was the one that did it in,” said Sale. “Just kind of a gut punch. I worked really hard -- a lot of people worked really hard -- for me to get to this spot. It’s tough being a disappointment again.

 “I kind of felt it on one pitch, and then after that it just slowly kept creeping up. The tolerance was not where I needed to be. I couldn’t finish pitches. I was raring back for 91. That’s just not it [for me], ever.“

Sale said the injury is strictly shoulder-related and that his elbow is fine. The last time Sale experienced shoulder issues was in 2018, when he was limited to 27 starts but returned in time to help the Red Sox win the World Series. 

 At this point, Sale does not anticipate needing surgery.

“It’s different than that [shoulder injury in 2018], I would say in a better way than that,” Sale said. “Obviously [we’re] optimistic. This isn’t anything that’s going to require any procedure, I don’t think, or any of that kind of thing. It’s just one of those that’s just going to take time. Again, I can’t really get too definitive because I don’t have anything too definitive. It’s not good sitting here talking about it, that’s for sure.”

However, Sale vowed that he would come back from this injury, just like all the others.

“If there’s anything I can prove it’s that you’re not going to keep me down,” Sale said. “I’m just going to keep rolling. You knock me down, I get back up. And I’m going to be back. That’s all I can do. That’s all I know.”