Even before Friday’s pregame ceremonies, the Red Sox home opener featured a noteworthy sight. Lefthander Chris Sale, who suffered a stress fracture in his right rib cage in late February, threw on flat ground at Fenway Park on Friday morning.
Sale – who stayed in Fort Myers, Fla., at the end of spring training but rejoined the Red Sox big league team for the season-opening homestand – said that he’s pain-free and that he’s now thrown a handful of times. But Sale also recognizes that as good as he feels physically, he’s at the beginning of a long effort to build back his arm strength and then work his way into a lengthy rehab assignment.