Chris Sale Back In White Sox’s Rotation

Sale was sent in for a precautionary MRI. Good news, on that front:

It was suggested by some that Sale would remain in the bullpen for at least the rest of the season. It was suggested by Sale that, actually, maybe not. So Sale’s status with the Sox is just a little bit confusing. But before we can really talk about Sale’s future, we have to talk about Sale’s future. By which I mean the White Sox need to figure out what’s going on in his elbow. Thus:

In college, Sale was a starter. But upon his signing with the White Sox, they turned him into a relief pitcher. Which worked, in the sense that reliefing got him to the majors so quickly. Not to mention his 2.58 ERA over his first two major-league seasons and 94 innings.

Chris Sale filled the opening this spring, and filled it well. In five starts, Sale’s got a 2.81 ERA and (surprisingly) a better strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.6) than he’d posted as a reliever. It’s hard to imagine a reliever-to-starter conversion going much better than this one.