Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale has been out since June when he suffered a stress reaction in his shoulder. Sale threw in a rehab game on Tuesday, and his second rehab game on Sunday gave Red Sox fans reason to be optimistic for his eventual return to the rotation.

Chris Sale pitched 4.1 innings, gave up three hits, no runs, walked none and struck out seven. He three 53 pitches, and 38 of them strikes, according to Boston Strong on Twitter.

Sale has pitched in 11 games so far this season, and has a 4.58 ERA in those games, according to Fangraphs, but his 3.69 FIP indicates that he could have potential to perform better. It will be intriguing to see if he can perform well when he returns for the Red Sox. They could use him performing to his potential, as they try to make a run for a wild card spot in the American League.

The Red Sox and Alex Cora have dealt with Sale's injuries a lot over the last couple of seasons. He has not thrown over 100 innings since 2019, according to Fangraphs. He did not pitch at all in 2020. His 11 games started this season are more than he started in each the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

It will be interesting to see how Sale does when he does return to the Red Sox's rotation. Alex Cora needs the Red Sox's starting rotation to perform. They just got swept by the Toronto Blue Jays, and lost the last game of the series by the score of 13-1.