Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale has made six starts so far in the 2019 season, and he's yet to record a win for the reigning World Series champions. The lefty hasn't been looking like himself, and he knows it.
"I'm sitting here like a broken record — what am I, six starts in?" Sale told reporters, including Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. "I've sucked every bit of every last one of them."
The Red Sox got off to a 3-9 start this season -- their worst since 2011. The team has yet to get above .500, and they currently sit in fourth place in the American League East with a 11-17 record, seven-and-a-half games back of first place. In Sunday's loss to the Rays (TB 5, BOS 2), Sale allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks while striking out eight batters over seven innings. It was a solid effort from Sale in his longest outing of the season, but he dropped to an 0-5 record with a 6.30 ERA in 30 innings.
Sale, who signed a five-year, $145 million extension just before the season got started, has struggled at the top of the rotation. His five losses are already more than he logged last season when he finished went 12-4 with a 2.11 ERA in 158 innings.
Even though Sale has yet to record a win, he hasn't been awful in each start and there have been glimpses of Sale at his best. In his outing against the Oakland Athletics, Sale allowed just one run in six innings. In his most recent starts, his earned runs have gone down while his strikeouts have gone up.
Sale has 18 strikeouts in 12 innings over his last two starts, more than the total number of strikeouts in his first four games. And he's only given up eight earned runs in his last three starts as opposed to the 13 he gave up in his first three starts. Plus, the hot topic of his decreased fastball velocity seems to have been put to rest. It's clear that Sale isn't happy with his performance thus far but it does look like he's on the verge of turning things around.
The Red Sox will begin a three-game series against the Athletics on Monday (regional viewers can stream the game with fuboTV). Sale will take the mound for his next start on May 3 against the Chicago White Sox.
