Another blow to Boston: Red Sox ace Chris Sale to have Tommy John surgery

It has been a challenging six weeks or so for the Boston area in terms of three of its four major sports teams – although sports are certainly on the backburner in terms of importance for everyone right now. In early February, the Red Sox completed a salary dump, and this is one of the wealthiest franchises in Major League Baseball, by sending former AL MVP Mookie Betts and ex-AL Cy Young winner David Price to the Dodgers.

The NHL's Bruins were on track to win the Presidents' Trophy with the most points in the league and were second-favorites on the William Hill NHL futures odds to win the Stanley Cup (behind Vegas) when hockey was shut down due to the coronavirus. This week, of course, Patriots six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, perhaps the greatest quarterback in history, left in free agency for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On Thursday, the Red Sox announced that ace left-hander Chris Sale was to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery that probably knocks him out of the first half of the 2021 campaign as well. While those first three items above were all surprises, the Sale news isn't really.

On March 1 while facing live batters for the first time this spring, Sale experienced elbow soreness, and it was reported that he had a flexor strain in his left (pitching) arm that would sideline Sale for the start of the season – when it was still supposed to start on March 26 – but that at least didn't require surgery because an MRI showed no notable damage. However, those types of issues often do require surgery and that's now the case.

Sale frankly hasn't been the same since the Red Sox won the 2018 World Series, after which Boston gave him a five-year, $145 million extension – that kicks in this season. He didn't pitch after mid-August last year because of elbow inflammation and ended up 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA in 25 starts, easily the perennial Cy Young contender's worst MLB season.

The southpaw has struck out at least 200 batters in seven straight seasons, tied for the third-longest streak in MLB history. Tom Seaver holds the mark with nine from 1968-76. Washington's Max Scherzer could have tied that this season but surely won't because nowhere near 162 games are going to be played.

The MLB futures odds at William Hill saw the Red Sox shift from +1300 to win the AL East to +1400. The pennant and World Series odds didn't move because not much was expected from Sale this year as it was with the injury and due to the shortened season.