Chris Sale's injury could thrust Red Sox to the front of the line for Reds pitcher Luis Castillo

Well, unfortunately for Chris Sale, it looks as though he'll be out of action for upwards of six weeks. Sale took a comebacker off his left hand during Sunday's game versus the New York Yankees and it was later revealed that the southpaw suffered a fractured finger.

This is a major blow to a Boston Red Sox rotation that had just welcomed Sale back after the veteran had missed the first few months of the season due to a stress fracture in his rib cage. This, after Sale missed all of the 2021 season following Tommy John surgery.

Boston's rotation has been ravaged by injuries. Nathan Eovaldi just returned from the IL, but James Paxton, Rich Hill, Connor Seabold, and Michael Wacha are all on the Injured List. Boston is just outside the playoff picture and have lost seven of their last 10 games.

Will Chris Sale's injury thrust the Red Sox to the front of the line for Red RHP Luis Castillo?

The Boston Red Sox have already been mentioned as a possible landing spot for Cincinnati Reds starter Luis Castillo. Former Reds GM Jim Bowden mentioned the Red Sox along with the aforementioned New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, and Los Angeles Dodgers as teams who'll be in the mix for Castillo's services before the deadline.

Boston has some talent in their farm system. According to MLB Pipeline, the Red Sox have three prospects ranked in the Top 50 and four in the Top 100. It's hard to see Boston parting with last year's first-round pick Marcelo Mayer and I highly doubt that Triston Casas is available.

But, if Boston is serious about landing Castillo, one of those two is likely to be part of the Reds return. Brayan Bello and Blaze Jordan are two other highly-touted prospects that Cincinnati could target in a potential trade with Boston.

No timetable for Chris Sale's return has been made available, but you have to figure he'll miss at least a month and maybe even more. This latest injury may see the Boston Red Sox leapfrog some of the other contenders who'll be looking to add Luis Castillo to their roster in the coming weeks.