Sale underwent MRI due to elbow soreness
The Boston Red Sox were already expected to begin the season with ace Chris Sale on the injured list, but now there's a chance he could be out for longer.
Sale is dealing with a sore elbow and underwent an MRI on Tuesday, according to The Boston Globe's Pete Abraham.
Dr. James Andrews will evaluate the images to determine the full extent of Sale's injury, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told reporters Tuesday before expressing concern about the pitcher's health.
"Obviously there's some concern," Bloom said, according to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. "Knowing how his 2019 ended and how important he is to us, there is some concern. But until we have all the information, we don't want to start speculating necessarily."
Sale experienced the soreness following live batting practice Sunday. When asked how he was feeling, the pitcher said he's "alive" and would provide more information about his status Wednesday, according to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic.
The 30-year-old was already expected to miss Opening Day due to a bout of pneumonia that put him behind schedule this spring.
He sat out the end of last season because of elbow issues and received a platelet-rich plasma injection to the troublesome area in August.
Since coming to the Red Sox before the 2017 season, Sale has started 84 games while authoring a 3.08 ERA with 763 strikeouts.