The Chicago White Sox have done plenty of shuffling with pitcher Chris Sale in the past week -- taking him out of the starting rotation due to "elbow tenderness," shifting him into the bullpen to assume the closer's role and then putting him on the shelf pending an MRI -- and Sale's agent, B.B. Abbott, isn't happy about it. In an e-mail to Mark Gonzalez of the Chicago Tribune, Abbott said: "I am extremely concerned about the way the White Sox have approached this entire situation with Chris and his future. It is his future, isn't it?"
Sale was visibly upset on the mound after being moved back to the bullpen, and it showed during his last appearance against the Indians, but now everything hinges on the results of Thursday's MRI. When the White Sox moved the young lefty out of the starting rotation, there was loose speculation that a higher percentage of sliders being throw was putting stress on Sale's elbow and it constituted a risk the Sox no longer wanted to deal with for the time being. Of course, they still let him pitch out of the bullpen soon after the move, which created quite a bit of confusion among fans and analysts.
Sale's "inverted W" delivery puts a high degree of stress on the elbow and that style of pitching often causes issues with the ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow joint, but at this point everyone is just waiting on the official results from Thursday's MRI. In any case, B.B. Abbott is not pleased, which likely means his client isn't very pleased either.
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