Alex Cora getting ‘very excited’ about Red Sox ace Chris Sale’s eventual return

Chris Sale is getting closer, and even Alex Cora has to admit he’s starting to get excited.

The Red Sox ace came out of his 15-pitch session to live hitters on Saturday feeling great, the manager said. Sale will take an even bigger next step on Wednesday, when he’ll pitch two innings to live hitters at Fenway Park as he continues to make positive progressions in his return from Tommy John surgery.

Cora has been careful not to get too ahead of himself with Sale during the left-hander’s long recovery that has featured a few setbacks, but on Sunday, the manager was imagining a future, possibly soon, of Sale’s eventual return.

“Now he’s got to stay patient, don’t get too excited,” Cora said. “But the fact that he’s progressed this way, you start thinking ahead when he’s going to contribute and when he’s going to be part of what we’re trying to accomplish. That’s the fun part.

“Obviously teams are going to make moves in the upcoming weeks, trying to improve, but one thing for sure, nobody can trade for Chris Sale. We can add Chris Sale to our equation and we’re very excited about that.”

With the rate Sale has recovered, it seems reasonable that a return in mid-August is possible. Cora said the plan is to build him up as a starter to rejoin the rotation. But without a rehab assignment scheduled just yet, they’re still taking it day by day.

“We’ll stay the course like we always do and whenever he’s ready, he’s ready,” Cora said. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and say this day or that and then it’s not the case and put pressure on him and the whole medical staff. So we’ll stay the course and whenever he’s ready, he’ll be with us.”

Red Sox advance in ASG voting

Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez and Alex Verdugo were voted in to the second phase of All-Star voting, which begins on Monday. Bogaerts and Devers were the American League’s top vote-getters at shortstop and third base, respectively, while Martinez was second at designated hitter behind Angels star Shohei Ohtani and Verdugo was eighth among AL outfielders.

Phase 2 of voting begins at noon on Monday and ends Thursday to determine the starters at each position. The starters for each league will be revealed on Thursday night.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3hbaTN1