RADIO
Chris Sale 2021 Outlook: If And When Healthy, Still An Ace
4 years agoIt's all about Sale's elbow this year. In 2019, he pitched much better than his 4.40 ERA indicated, striking out 35.6% of batters faced while walking just 6.0% of them. He got rocked by home runs, allowing 24 of them, but neither his 27 barrels allowed or 42.8% ground ball rate indicated that he should have allowed so many long balls. As a result, he posted a 2.93 xFIP and 3.00 SIERA: his least impressive numbers since 2016, but still ace-level. Of course, he won't be ready to go until midway through 2021, he'll almost certainly be pitch count-limited, and it's always hard to say how a pitcher will react to Tommy John surgery especially in a first year back. But it says a lot about Sale's underlying talent level that he's nonetheless the 61-ranked RotoBaller SP this preseason. With an ADP of 235, if your roster construction allows for a late-round stash, it could pay off nicely with Sale during the stretch run.
