Chris Sale doesn’t deserve scorn, White Sox fans
Chris Sale is now pitching for the Boston Red Sox, and last night he made his first return to Chicago’s South Side since being traded, to the chagrin of some White Sox fans.
Chris Sale made his return to the newly-renamed Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago last night, and it went poorly. Through only four innings, the Red Sox starter had allowed his highest number of earned runs and hits so far in 2017. He didn’t make it to the sixth inning, the first time that has happened since pitching his last game for the White Sox in 2016.
Watching the left-handed Sale work, it became obvious he was a little too amped up for the occasion. Such emotions were somewhat expected from Sale, given both his makeup as a competitor and the occasion itself. It was Sale’s first return wearing a different uniform, emerging from a different clubhouse, warming up in a different bullpen and pitching against the team that had provided his home for the first seven years of his career.
Given the tone and tenor of some White Sox fans on the way the current “rebuild” is going, one might come away thinking a large contingent of fans are hoping for Sale’s failure, especially against his old team.
Such sentiment is rather tough to come by – Sox fans gave a standing ovation to a video package of Sale shown at Guaranteed Rate Field on Memorial Day – and if it is found, it should be abandoned quickly.
Simply put, Chris Sale didn’t hold anything back playing for the Sox. He didn’t keep some left in the tank because, hey, this team isn’t going to make the playoffs anyway. Sale pitched when his name was called, and pitched at a level few fandoms get to see up close and personal, much less on every fifth day at home.
He even suffered through a management-mandated bullpen stint early in his career, implemented by then-GM Kenny Williams. Yes, someone once had the bright idea to use Chris Sale out of the bullpen. That man still has a high-paying job, with the same organization.
Bask in Sale’s dominance.
That said, so what if he cut up some jerseys? So what if he beefed with Kenny Williams? And so what if his seven strikeouts through three innings last night put him on pace to set the single-game record?
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That kind of dominance wore a White Sox uniform for nearly 150 starts of Hall of Fame-caliber (yes, Hall of Fame-caliber) starting pitching performance. Chris Sale even made some atrocious White Sox teams watchable, albeit once a week.
Finally, it is that dominance which ultimately resulted in Yoan Moncada, a player with a .320/.400/.497 slash line through 175 PA in AAA Charlotte. A top-flight, consensus blue chip prospect, which is something the White Sox haven’t had since Aaron Rowand. There’s also Michael Kopech, the 105-mph flamethrower that came over in the package for Sale. He currently has a 2.66 ERA and 1.099 WHIP through 47 innings in AA Birmingham.
Really, it is not Chris Sale’s fault the White Sox didn’t properly build around him. Chris Sale isn’t the reason there was no postseason baseball on the South Side during his tenure with the White Sox. That blame lies elsewhere, perhaps with someone mentioned earlier in this column, twice.
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Chris Sale may very well have a Hall of Fame career, so be happy, White Sox fans. You were in on the ground floor, when people thought his herky-jerky motion would blow up his elbow before he made it to The Show. He deserves admiration for his commitment and thanks for his production, not scorn, on any level.