Chris Sale injury: Red Sox ace broke wrist riding bike, had season-ending surgery

Red Sox ace Chris Sale broke wrist riding bike, had season-ending surgery originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Chris Sale just seems to have all the bad injury luck.

The Boston Red Sox ace suffered a right wrist fracture while riding a bike on Saturday and had surgery to repair the injury on Monday, the team announced Tuesday.

Sale will miss the remainder of the 2022 season as a result, but he is expected to be ready for Spring Training in February of 2023.

The 33-year-old left-hander’s career with the Red Sox has been mostly derailed by injuries, but this year has been particularly troubling. He suffered a rib fracture in the spring, which delayed his season debut. Sale made his first start against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 12. Five days later he pitched against the New York Yankees and broke his pinkie finger on a line drive up the middle. And then this past weekend he broke his wrist riding a bike.

Sale has been really good when healthy. He owns a 40-25 record with a 3.09 ERA, 880 strikeouts and 120 walks in 95 starts with Boston. The problem is he just can’t stay healthy.

This latest development with Sale is the most recent on a long list of bad outcomes for the Red Sox this season. They currently sit at the bottom of the American League East division despite having one of baseball’s highest payrolls.

They are 4.5 games out of the third and final wild card playoff spot in the AL, and their next six games on the schedule are against the Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees. That’s a pretty tough upcoming stretch.