BOSTON -- Extra rest, potential rehab assignments, match-ups.
Pitcher scheduling takes the forefront down the stretch for the Red Sox, who are built around their pitching. This is a club that carries the best starter in baseball in Chris Sale and needs to get back another arm, David Price, as soon as possible.
Wednesday’s Red Sox-Indians rainout means that Sale’s next scheduled start is to come against the Rays on the road, on Tuesday -- pushed back from Sunday at Fenway Park.
That gives Sale six days off in between starts, two days more than normal.
“With the number of [team] off-days coming up, there could have been a stretch of 12-14 days where not every guy’s going to get to the mound,” manager John Farrell said Thursday. “Chris gets a couple extra days right now, but then he’ll be on more regular turns and we’ll begin to skip someone in that time period going forward.
“There’s three series against New York. Chris is mapped out to be in every one of them, [and he'll also pitch against the division-contending Rays] Tuesday in Tampa. You balance rest, but then you also look at how do you match up and align guys going forward.”
After Tuesday, Sale’s next outing is scheduled to come Sunday, Aug. 13, in New York vs. the Yankees, followed by another outing against the Yankees on either Aug. 18 or Aug. 19, presumably, at Fenway Park. Pitching either of those days would set Sale up to pitch in a four-game series in Cleveland, Aug. 21-24.
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This season is shaping up to be the first in Sale’s career as a full-time starter where he will finish with more games on regular rest (12) than extra rest (nine after his next outing).
For Price, meanwhile, the next step is more flat-ground work. That’s expected to come Friday, Farrell said.
The trouble with missed time for pitchers is that the longer you’re out, the longer it takes to come back.
“The general rule of thumb is, the number of days that you miss on the front end, you double it to get back,” Farrell said. “That’s a general rule of thumb, that’s not everyone. So then in other words, if you’re not in a game in 10 days, you then need another 10 to get back ready at this level. [But] that’s not saying that that’s [Price’s] timeline.”
It seems reasonable to expect two things: One, that Price will get out to at least 120 feet before he gets on a mound. Two, that Price will need some sort of time facing competition before returning to the big leagues, be it a minor-league rehab assignment or some other simulated experience.
Farrell has often said 120-150 feet is the target for pitchers to reach while throwing from flat ground before getting back on the mound. In Price’s case, the shorter end of that range could be enough.
“Ideally we get to 120, see how he feels, and if there’s a need to go further,” Farrell said. “He’s not necessarily been a guy that’s gone out much further than 120.”
That doesn’t mean the first day Price reaches 120 feet, he’ll be deemed ready to get off a mound, of course.
Price has been out to 90 feet at this point. Asked if Price has been sore, Farrell said that whatever Price has felt has not been noteworthy.