Chris Sale #49 of the Chicago White Sox pitches against the Kansas City Royals in the first inning on August 6, 2012 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)
(WSCR) Over his last four starts, Chris Sale is 1-3 with a 4.81 ERA.
He’s given up 12 walks and six homers over that stretch, while losing velocity on his fastball. Still, one White Sox expert thinks the club should stick to schedule with Sale.
“I don’t think you skip (a start) at this point,” Steve Stone said. “I think you send him out there, because he did have pretty good stuff against Detroit. He ran into a guy that’s one of the best pitchers in baseball in (Justin) Verlander.”
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Stone did admit that Sale appeared to be fatigued in Detroit, but the White Sox have a scheduled day off Thursday, which could benefit the 23-year-old left-hander.
“I thought Chris showed that his arm was on the way back,” Stone said. “He was looking pretty good. With the extra day, I would expect him to come out (strong.) I know he doesn’t want to get shut down. I know that he says he feels terrific. He’s going to go out there and he’s going to give you everything he’s got. He doesn’t have to throw 95 mph to be effective. All that does, from his arm angle, is give you the ability to make a few more mistakes in the zone. What’s happened with him, is when you do lose a little of that elasticity, which is what happens when you get fatigued, the ball doesn’t have that little extra sink or movement at the end. Consequently, a guy is able to square it up and hit it out of the ball park. That’s been the big problem. When you do experience fatigue, you lose movement on your fastball. You can’t afford to miss. When you do, you pay a big price for it.”
