Manager Ron Roenicke said Thursday that Sale has been diagnosed with a flexor strain in his left elbow, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports. He'll be shut down from throwing for the next week before attempting to play catch again.
Per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, both Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Neal ElAttrache noted that Sale's UCL is intact, prompting the two specialists to recommend that he forgo surgery for the time being and take a week off before seeing how his elbow responds to the rest period. According to Abraham, Sale is still scheduled to take part in defensive drills Thursday, so he won't be held out of baseball activities entirely while he waits for his elbow pain to subside. While the news is seemingly positive for Sale, the Red Sox likely won't be able to pinpoint a target date for his return until he advances deep into his throwing program, and Tommy John surgery could still be in the cards if his elbow doesn't show the desired improvement. Since he'll essentially have to go through a modified spring training all over again, Sale appears unlikely to be ready to make his 2020 debut until early May in a best-case scenario.