Red Sox Ace Suffers Broken Finger

In only his second game of the season after missing the first three months with a rib cage fracture, Chris Sale has now suffered a broken finger. 

Chris Sale was hit by a comebacker and walks off the field with what certainly appears to be a broken finger

pic.twitter.com/vNj09EB9vK

— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) July 17, 2022

It was a sizzling 106.7 mph comebacker from the New York Yankees' Aaron Hicks in the bottom of the 1st inning, that caught Sale right on his bare hand. The finger was bent out of shape, as Sale walked right off the field in pain. It's since been confirmed as a fracture. 

Sports medicine orthopedic surgeon Christopher Geary identified, visibly, at the time, what the issue was:

Sale just dislocated the PIP joint on his small finger - rehab timeline will be contingent on if it’s just a soft tissue injury or a fracture. Soft tissue, he might be back before long. Operative fracture would end his season #RedSox

— Christopher Geary (@ChrisGearyOrtho) July 17, 2022

Geary noted at the time that if it is indeed a fracture, Sale would likely have to have surgery that "would end his season".

Sale just returned five days ago for his first start of the season, throwing five scoreless innings. He only threw 24 pitches in this one.