Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale to meet with Dr. James Andrews on Monday

BOSTON --- Chris Sale will see noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews on Monday.

The Red Sox left-hander will travel to Florida on the scheduled off day to meet with Andrews. Sale was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday while suffering from what Boston described as elbow inflammation. Sale told Red Sox medical staff he felt stiffness in the elbow Wednesday and Thursday and reported his symptoms to them on Friday.

"He just wants to make sure he has all the facts [...]

BOSTON --- Chris Sale will see noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews on Monday.

The Red Sox left-hander will travel to Florida on the scheduled off day to meet with Andrews. Sale was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday while suffering from what Boston described as elbow inflammation. Sale told Red Sox medical staff he felt stiffness in the elbow Wednesday and Thursday and reported his symptoms to them on Friday.

“He just wants to make sure he has all the facts before he talks to you guys,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “He wants to see where we’re at with it and all the opinions and he goes from there.”

Sale will be accompanied by Brad Pearson, who serves as Boston’s director of sports medicine service and head athletic trainer. The Red Sox set up an MRI on Saturday for Sale, and those results will be discussed. Boston president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Saturday he wasn’t sure if Sale would pitch again this season.

“You always want to have second opinions on this type of thing,” Dombrowski said. “When you get to a person of Chris’s magnitude and you have elbow inflammation, you want people to look at it. We’re all on the same page in that regard.”

Sale’s last outing came on Tuesday, as he finished 6 2/3 innings in a victory at Cleveland. Sale became the fastest pitcher to reach 2,000 career strikeouts, requiring just 1626 innings. That highlight is one of few in what has been a generally difficult season for Sale, as his career-worst 4.40 earned-run average can attest.

“It’s not that he’s hiding from you guys,” Cora said. “He just wants to be straight up and have all the information when he talks to you guys, which I think is fair.”

Sale agreed to a five-year, $145-million extension with the club late in spring training. That contract begins in the 2020 season, and any discovery of a severe elbow injury by Andrews or Red Sox medical staff could result in surgery that would waste the first year of that deal. Boston is left to scramble for starting pitching in the interim, with Rick Porcello and Eduardo Rodriguez the lone remaining members of the projected rotation who have taken a regular turn since the beginning of the season.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25