On Friday, a poorly located comebacker fractured Madison Bumgarner’s hand. As a result, Bumgarner will be sidelined for at least a month, and perhaps longer. Boston Red Sox fans had sufficient reason to think about the San Francisco Giants ace on Saturday — especially after Chris Sale took a liner off his leg before exiting.
The good news — for Sale, the Red Sox, and baseball as a whole — is that Sale’s injury is being listed as a hip contusion, pending further evaluation:
Red Sox announce that Chris Sale left today's game with a left hip contusion and that he will be evaluated further. So, that probably answers all your questions, right?
— Chad Jennings (@chadjennings22) March 24, 2018
Red Sox LHP Chris Sale said he simply has a bruise: "I don't see anything lingering from this. It looked a lot worse than it was."
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) March 24, 2018
Sale says he absolutely expects to starter the opener.
— Chad Jennings (@chadjennings22) March 24, 2018
If that’s all that comes of this, consider it a fortunate break for the Red Sox, who are already dealing with a number of injuries to their rotation. Drew Pomeranz has been battling forearm tightness; Eduardo Rodriguez is recovering from knee surgery; and Steven Wright has to work his way back from his own knee operation before serving his 15-game suspension.
The Red Sox can weather all the above just fine — provided Sale, David Price, and Rick Porcello stay well. Otherwise, things will get a little tricky. For now, it seems like the Red Sox just might be safe.