Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale is lost on the mound. Maybe all he needs is the return of a friendly face behind home plate.
This is not the Chris Sale that the Boston Red Sox had expected. With a full offseason to rest his troublesome shoulder, and the Red Sox taking it easy during Spring Training, Sale should have come back just as strong as ever. Instead, he has been a disaster on the mound to start the season, posting a 0-3 record with a 9.00 ERA, allowing 20 baserunners in his 13 innings of work.
While the velocity was there for Sale in the first inning, he just never felt right. In fact, the Red Sox ace has said that he feels lost on the mound, worse than he ever has in his playing career.
Asked Sale is he’s ever felt this lost on the mound. “Never in my life,” he said.
— Sean McAdam (@Sean_McAdam) April 9, 2019
It is easy to bemoan Sale’s struggles at the start of the season and wonder if his shoulder is still bothering him. Yet, that may not be the case at all. The solution to his problems, and the struggles of the Red Sox pitching staff as a whole, may be sitting in Pawtucket. The answer may simply be to add Sandy Leon to the 40 man roster, and bring him back to the majors.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Sometimes, the greats need to have that security blanket behind the plate. Greg Maddux had that with Eddie Perez. Tim McCarver made a career out of being Steve Carlton‘s personal catcher. There is a level of trust that is built up, where the pitcher has complete confidence that the person behind the plate not only knows their arsenal and what is working, but what pitch to call in any situation.
That is the trust that Sale has with Leon. And it is not just Sale; the entire Red Sox pitching staff has that feeling of comfort when Leon is behind the plate. In fact, Leon was considered the heartbeat of the Red Sox pitching staff, a key component to their strong performance last year.
This season, the Red Sox decided they wanted more offense from the catcher position. While Leon may be excellent defensively, his lifetime .226/.288/.338 batting line was not the type of production Boston had been looking for. This numbers last season were even worse, as Leon posted a .177/.232/.279 batting line in 288 plate appearances.
While Blake Swihart and Christian Vazquez are better offensively, neither has that rapport with the pitching staff that Leon does. Likewise, neither catcher has the complete confidence of Chris Sale, who the Red Sox desperately need to get back on track. This is one case where the lack of production with the bat is not as much of a problem as the implosion of the pitching staff as a whole.
The answer for the Boston Red Sox to getting Chris Sale and the rest of the pitching staff on track may be right there for the taking. It is time to make the move to bring back Sandy Leon.