Red Sox World Series, American League & Playoff Betting Odds After Chris Sale Ruled Out for Season
Elsa/Getty Images. Pictured: Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale
Chris Sale had just two starts this season, but the impact of yet another freak injury has this time reverberated throughout the markets.
Sale is now out for the season after fracturing his wrist during a bicycle accident.
And the Red Sox's already-fickle odds to make the playoffs have gotten far worse.
Boston had roughly 50/50 odds to make the playoffs around the All-Star break, when the team was 48-45 and two games out of a Wild Card spot.
Since then, the Red Sox have gone 6-11 and effectively punted at the trade deadline, giving away catcher Christian Vasquez and refusing to improve at any position.
Still, the Red Sox were given +210 odds to make the playoffs as recently as Monday, on account of their third-easiest schedule down the stretch along with the possibility of Sale returning. Boston was only 4.5 games back of a playoff spot.
However, their ace's demise threw a wrench in that notion quickly.
The Red Sox are now just +425 to make the playoffs, which means oddsmakers discerned Sale's absence decreased their chances of making the postseason an eye-popping 13%.
(All odds according to DraftKings.)
Boston had been -265 to miss the playoffs Monday before that line deteriorated all the way to -550. That market's implied probability increased by 12%.
Sale's bicycle fracture adds to the litany of other freak injuries the former Cy Young Award winner has faced this year.
He had started off the season with a fractured rib, which he suffered during live batting practice during the MLB lockout.
Then, a non-disclosed medical condition left him sidelined for weeks.
And then, during just his second start of the season, he fractured his pinky finger at Yankee Stadium.
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