PitchInfo shows a large velocity drop for Chris Sale. Everyone of his pitches is down two to three miles an hour from last season. That makes it a little easier for batters to catch up to his pitches, and they are doing so very well. Sale also does not walk batters, so he’s around the plate. Note that there is a lot more contact against Sale both in and out of the strike zone. I suspect his injury last year took a bigger toll on the ace that the Red Sox imagined.