White Sox pitcher Sale will miss his next scheduled start
The date of Chris Sale's next starting assignment for the Chicago White Sox is uncertain as of Sunday, partly because his arm seems fatigued and perhaps partly because the acquisition of Francisco Liriano gives them some options.
"Going through a little dead-arm period I guess," Sale told the Chicago Tribune. "Nothing terrible, nothing anyone else doesn't go through. We all feel this is something that's going to benefit us and benefit myself -- a few extra days off so the next couple months we can make a push and get after it."
In his first full major-league season, Sale, 23, is 12-3 with a 2.61 ERA. He has thrown 124 innings, and his velocity has slipped in his past two starts.
Sale had been scheduled to pitch Wednesday at Minnesota. But that was before Chicago acquired Liriano.
Jake Peavy's start was moved from Tuesday to Wednesday, and Liriano will make his White Sox debut Tuesday night against the Twins.
Manager Robin Ventura said the team may go with a six-man rotation temporarily, although the rotation beyond the Twins series has not been announced.
Ventura told the Tribune that Sale is simply experiencing some fatigue.
"There's no pain or anything in there," Ventura said. "We'll see how that sits when we're in Minnesota and how he feels and how he does in between his starts. Nothing's changed as far as how we started to treat him and how we treat him now. We're just trying to take care of him."
