Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images(BOSTON) — Red Sox ace Chris Sale will miss the start of the season as he recovers from the flu and pneumonia, according to interim manager Ron Roenicke.
“With the sickness it cost him two weeks’ time and that two weeks is what we’d like to give him to make sure he’s right,” said Roenicke at spring training. “He’s worked hard on getting his arm right and we didn’t think four starts in spring training was fair to him.
Sale will begin the season on the 15-day injured list.
Last season, he missed the final six weeks of the season with a left elbow injury, but the two are unrelated.
“I think they just want me to get fully stretched out and get where I need to be,” Sale told the media at spring training. “I started two weeks late, so I got to stay two weeks late. Simple math will tell you that kind of makes sense. Do I like it? Absolutely not. Do I respect it? 100%.”
Sale finished 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA last season.
Boston ended the year third in the American League East with a 84-78 record.
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