Boston Red Sox star Chris Sale is back on the mound and made his first start since 2019 against the Baltimore Orioles.
However, the 7X All-Star and the 2018 World Series champion delivered a poor performance, allowing seven runs including three home runs in three innings against the Orioles.
Aware of his subpar execution, the 34-year-old pitcher apologized for his "embarrassing performance."
"I left them completely out to dry tonight. That's about as embarrassed as I've ever been on a baseball field," said Sale during a post-game interview.
"Chris Sale evaluates his performance and praises his teammates after his first outing of the seasons." - NESN
Nevertheless, fans didn't let Chris Sale off the hook even after his apology. One said:
"Lather rinse repeat ... I sucked ... blah blah blah"
Here are a few fan reactions showing no mercy to Sale:
While most fans ruthlessly trolled him for his underwhelming 2023 start, there were a few who chose to see the silver lining.
Fans have high expectations from Chris Sale after he displayed a strong spring training performance.
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora optimistic about Chris Sale
Despite Boston Red Sox All-Star Chris Sale's inadequate performance against the Orioles, manager Alex Cora is hopeful the the pitcher's struggles will cease after one appearance, and he will turn things around.
“I’ve been saying all along that we’re not going to depend on the big guy (Sale) to carry us the whole time,” Cora said. “He just has to do his part. Today, obviously, it was a tough one. But as a team, we’re going to keep grinding, keep going and keep fighting until the end. Hopefully, it doesn’t have to take all this effort to get more W’s.
He added:
“It’s one of those days. We’ve got to get better. I think the changeup was okay when he used it. Just go back and watch and get him ready for Detroit on Thursday. Stuff was OK. Location wasn’t great. We’re going to take a look at it and see if we can do better.”
On Saturday, the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-8.