Red Sox Notebook: Chris Sale ‘getting close,’ will pitch Saturday for WooSox

Chris Sale might just be a few bus rides away from his long-awaited return to the Red Sox.

After throwing five strong innings and earning his first official win in nearly two years on Saturday with Triple-A Worcester, Sale will have at least one more rehab start before a potential call-up to Boston. He’s scheduled to travel with the WooSox this week to Scranton, where he’ll start Saturday on a full week of rest.

“He’s going to go pitch that one,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We’ll re-address the situation after that but he’s getting close. He’s getting close. I actually spoke to (head trainer) Brad (Pearson) a little bit about (Saturday). He said, ‘He got hit hard in the fourth inning.’ I said, ‘Yeah, he’s human. That’s part of being a big leaguer, being a pitcher.’

“I talked to Chris this morning. Going into it, and I read some quotes, he felt like it was a regular start. There were no limits, I got to go out there and work. He accomplished that. Today, he felt great. He’ll get on the bus, he’ll pitch and then we’ll see where it takes us but he’s getting close.”

Sale struck out seven and allowed one run on five hits as he threw 81 pitches on Saturday with the WooSox, his fourth rehab start in his return from Tommy John surgery. If Saturday is his last one, he could theoretically join the Red Sox and start on Aug. 12 at home against the Rays, which would be one day shy of exactly two years since his last big-league start on Aug. 13, 2019.

First, though, he’s going to soak in a minor-league bus ride to Scranton.

“You can bet your (expletive) I’m getting on that bus with the guys on Monday,” Sale told reporters on Saturday.

Schwarber in good spot

Despite continuing to nurse a hamstring injury, trade deadline acquisition Kyle Schwarber is making good progress. He said Saturday a rehab assignment could come soon, and in the meantime, he’s been productive. Schwarber has been able to hit in batting practice and he’s already getting some reps in defensively at first base.

Schwarber will be part of a team workout during Monday’s off day in Detroit and Cora will sit down with Pearson this week to talk about a plan for him.

“He feels good,” Cora said. “The medical staff, they feel good. They feel like what they did with him with the Nationals have put him in a good situation. … As far as the progress of the injury, we’re excited. Sometimes with paperwork, you read the stuff and they have all that stuff and sometimes it goes the other way. In our situation, it’s very positive.

“The progress has been great. We’re hoping that he goes on a rehab assignment sooner rather than later and he’ll be with us whenever he’s ready.”

Power outage

Christian Vazquez hit a career-high 23 home runs in 2019, and it seems like that season will be the outlier to the catcher’s career. He had 10 career homers prior to ’19, and has just 11 since. He hit seven in 47 games last year and had just four this season entering Sunday. He hadn’t hit one since June 27, a drought of 83 at-bats.

That’s just fine to Cora, who thinks Vazquez can impact the game at the plate better in other ways.

“He can become a complete hitter,” Cora said. “He can hit .280 in this league. He can drive in runs, and he can hit for occasional power. In ’19, if you look at his career, people have career years. And I think as far as the power numbers, it was a career year. I had my career year. I hit 10 one year. I was like, ‘Wow, you’re a power hitter!’ No, it doesn’t work that way. When you start chasing power, sometimes there’s a lot of empty fly balls. When Christian is going well, he’s hitting line drives all over the place and sometimes he’ll hit the ball out of the ballpark.

“He’s not having a bad season. He’s actually done an amazing job behind the plate, calling pitches, grinding. And he has put some good at-bats, but sometimes we have to decide who we want to be. And I do believe Christian Vazquez is a good big-league hitter that can hit for average, can drive in runs, and can hit for occasional power.”

Odds & ends

The Red Sox announced Sunday that they’ve signed three more draft picks: catcher Nathan Hickey (5th round), first baseman Niko Kavadas (11th round), and right-handed pitcher Luis Guerrero (17th round). They have now signed 16 of their 20 selections. … Brandon Workman, who was designated for assignment on Friday, was outrighted off the major-league roster and is now a free agent. …

Marwin Gonzalez (hamstring) will join the Red Sox in Detroit and could be activated this week. Christian Arroyo (hamstring) will take longer for a return. Matt Andriese (hamstring) is “trending in the right direction” after throwing a live BP on Sunday in Worcester, and Ryan Brasier was also supposed to throw a bullpen on Sunday.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3yhIr3y