Which indicates what?
It does not indicate that the elbow was injured, since we know he didn't experience pain and was able to throw in a) the spring of 2022 before he injured his rib, and b) in the summer of 2022 after his rib healed.
Does it indicate he's only going to average 3 innings and 3 runs a start going forward? Like Steve Avery 2.0? Or that he somehow sucked beyond normal in the 2022 post season?
Well, perhaps people
feel that way, but we can look at the actual games:
Oct 8 -
Game 2 of the ALDS - he gets lit up by the Rays for 5 runs in the first inning. ERA of 45.
https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-red-sox/2021/10/08/chris-sale-red-sox-rays-alds-game-2-start-stats-jordan-luplow-grand-slam/
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TBA/TBA202110080.shtml
Nifty Visual - scroll down it.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/player-scroll/game?gamePk=660932&player_id=519242#pitch_swinging
All pitchers can have crappy starts, and this was one of them. Cora pulled him after 1, given that Houck was ready and Sale had already thrown 30 pitches. If there's a command issue, it's not apparent to my eye looking at the pitch spread. And if there's an injury issue, it didn't prevent them from starting Sale the next available game:
***
Oct 15 -
Game 1 of the ALCS - he goes 2.2 innings against the Astros and gives up 1 run. 5 hits, 1 walk, 2 Ks.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU202110150.shtml
Nifty Visual - scroll down it.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/player-scroll/game?gamePk=660896&player_id=519242
Here we see more pitches in the zone, a wild pitch leading to a sac fly.
Sale goes 61 pitches and is lifted with two on, two out, for Ottavino.
***
Oct 20 -
Game 5 of the ALCS - he goes 5.1 innings and gives up 4 runs (2 earned). 87 pitches, 3 hits, 2 walks, 7Ks.
Apart from a solo homerun, he basically had trouble in the 6th:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS202110200.shtml
Visual-
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/player-scroll/game?gamePk=660900&player_id=519242#power_sets
So I think the next question we have to ask is how unusual is Sale's performance? Let's look at that post season to see if Cora ran the starters long or pulled them short. And we'll contrast that against the Rays and Astros, to see just how abysmal our SP was, compared to those elite hurlers from those squads of primo-paid billionaires where the owners
care about the winnings, probably because they
feels them so muchly. . .oh wait, this is an analysis-post since people aren't just throwing rhetorical hot-takes onto the board anymore. Old habits and all that.
Anyway, Sox starters first, regardless of where the game was played:
ALDS 1
Erod - 1.2 IP, 41 pitches, 2 runs
McClanahan - 5 IP, 82, 0 runs
ALDS 2
Sale - 1 IP, 30 p, 5 runs
Baz - 2.1 IP, 47p, 3 runs
ALDS 3
Eovaldi - 5 IP, 85p, 2 runs
Rasmussen - 2 IP, 33p, 3 runs
ALDS 4
Erod - 5 IP, 78p, 2 runs
McHugh - 2 IP, 18p, 0 runs
____
ALCS 1
Sale - 2.2 IP, 61p, 1 run
Valdez - 2.2 IP, 64p, 3 runs
ALCS 2
Eovaldi - 5.1 IP, 81p, 3 runs
Garcia - 1 IP, 33p, 5 runs
ALCS 3
Erod - 6 IP, 97p, 3 runs
Urquidy - 1.2 IP, 57p, 6 runs
ALCS 4
Pivetta - 5 IP, 65p, 1 run
Greinke - 1.1 IP, 37p, 2 runs
ALCS 5
Sale - 5.1 IP, 87p, 4 runs (2 ER)
Valdez - 8 IP, 93p, 1 run
ALCS 6
Eovaldi - 4.1 IP, 63p, 1 run
Garcia - 5.2 IP, 76p, 0 runs
Hmm. I doubt that will change anyone's
feelings about Sale, but it seems that:
Shouldn't be thought of as a serious point in this context.