Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale has consistently been one of Major League Baseball’s best hurlers since 2012, but the unorthodox lefty is once again dealing with injury concerns.

The White Sox announced the 25-year-old star suffered a fractured right foot and is expected to miss three weeks:

The team also provided comments from general manager Rick Hahn:

Sale enters the 2015 season having been named to three consecutive All-Star Games. He also finished sixth or better in the American League Cy Young voting every year from 2012 through 2014.

Although he only won 12 games last season due to a lack of run support, Sale was lights out. He posted career bests as a starter with a 2.17 ERA, a 0.97 WHIP and 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings. The only downside of his campaign was that he was a bit banged up.

Sale has largely been healthy over the course of his career, but he was limited to 26 starts last season with a flexor muscle strain in his throwing arm.

While Sale was able to rebound and have a spectacular year, there are always concerns regarding his health due to the violence and velocity with which he releases the baseball.

Even as suggestions have been made to potentially tweak Sale’s throwing motion, though, White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper has been adamantly against doing so, per Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago.

“Anyone who would try to change what he is doing would be foolish,” Cooper said. “If it ain’t broke, you don’t try to fix it here. Chris has put up the numbers. He is on the road to greatness. He has a chance to become a great pitcher.”

This setback is certainly unfortunate, especially since Sale enters the 2015 season with absolutely massive expectations, though it doesn’t seem this is an injury that will have him sidelined for the long term.

The White Sox were active during the offseason, which has Sale excited about the possibility of making some noise, according to the team’s official Twitter account:

Sale previously indicated he certainly wanted to contend for a playoff spot, but his eyes were on an even greater prize in the form of the World Series, per the Chicago Sun-Times on Twitter:

There is little doubt that Sale’s dominance was a big reason why so many observers were bullish about Chicago’s chances in the AL Central leading up to the 2015 season.

Sale is one of the best pitchers the sport has to offer, and everyone with a vested interest in the White Sox eagerly anticipates his return.

 

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