{"percentChange":0.2,"averageDraftPosition":16.4,"positionRank":7,"playerRater7DAY":1.2,"percentOwned":95.5,"playerRaterSEASON":11.2,"seasonOutlook":{"date":"Tue Feb 20","seasonId":2018,"outlook":"If you're of the belief that left-handed pitchers are at a disadvantage when calling Fenway Park their home, Sale certainly did his best to prove you wrong in 2017. Consider his accolades in his debut season for the Red Sox: His 308 strikeouts were the most by any pitcher in 15 years, and his 36.2 percent strikeout rate was third in history by an ERA-qualified pitcher. Sale posted 117 strikeouts and a 1.00 WHIP in his Fenway games, which ranked second and fourth in history, respectively, among ERA-qualified Red Sox left-handers. What's more, opponents continued trying to load lineups with right-handed hitters as they attempted to solve the Sale puzzle, yet he limited them to a .274 wOBA -- 13th among the 134 pitchers who faced at least 250 righties -- and he whiffed a major-league-leading 267, 98 more than anyone else. Sale is as good a strikeout source as there is and a clear member of the starting pitcher \"Tier 1,\" a group with as much value today as it has had in any season so far this century."},"mostRecentNews":{"date":"Thu Nov 1","news":"President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Thursday that Sale is unlikely to need surgery on his shoulder this offseason and should be \"100 percent\" by spring training, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.","spin":"The Red Sox are hopeful that Sale only requires a little rest in order to completely heal the shoulder injury that bothered him from late July through early September. Even though the left-hander was able to work his way back for the home stretch of the regular season and the playoffs, it was evident that Sale wasn't fully operational. Earlier this week, Boston exercised its club option on Sale for the 2019 season, which was an obvious decision given that he was owed just $15 million for next year."},"fullName":"Chris Sale","playerRater30DAY":0.4,"playerRater15DAY":0.5,"playerId":3387}