Sep. 18—Friday night went about as well as Red Sox fans possibly could have hoped.
Following his second bout with COVID-19, Chris Sale returned to action after a 10-day absence and picked up the win in a drama-free 7-1 win over the last-place Baltimore Orioles. He relied more heavily on groundouts than normal and wasn’t overpowering, but he also allowed just one run on two hits over five innings to improve to 4-0 since coming back from Tommy John surgery.
Meanwhile, Bobby Dalbec hit his 23rd home run of the season, Hunter Renfroe hit a three-run double to bust it open and the Red Sox defense played its best game in ages, all while the Toronto Blue Jays lost to allow Boston to take over sole possession of first in the American League Wild Card race.
All of that was great, but there was one development that will likely give many Red Sox fans pause heading into the final weeks: Sale revealed after the game that he has not been vaccinated.
Regardless of anyone’s thoughts on vaccination, a player of Sale’s caliber being unvaccinated poses a substantial competitive risk to the Red Sox. Unvaccinated players are subject to much stricter MLB protocols, the most notable being that unvaccinated players identified as close contacts have to quarantine while vaccinated close contacts do not.
The Red Sox experienced this themselves recently when relief pitcher Josh Taylor, who is also unvaccinated, spent a week on the COVID-19 injured list after being pulled mid-game in Tampa Bay on Aug. 30 for being a close contact. That happened at a time when most of the team’s other top relievers were also unavailable, leaving the bullpen perilously undermanned at a crucial point in the season.
Imagine if something similar happens to Sale before the AL Wild Card Game?
Sale, for his part, was fortunate to have avoided developing symptoms following his most recent positive COVID-19 test. He said he spent the past 10 days isolating at home and preparing for his start so he’d be ready once he was cleared to return.
“It was different, for midseason, but I got all the work I needed to get in,” Sale said. “I was lucky enough to have people bringing stuff to my house, whether it’s weights, jump ropes, heck I even got a portable mound from Babson [College.] So it worked out well.”
The Red Sox are lucky Sale is ok and that they got him back as quickly as they did, but by remaining unvaccinated Sale is putting his team in a tough spot. Everything worked out fine this time, but he and the club may not be so fortunate again.
Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.
Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.