Chris Sale Caught the Eye of Pedro Martinez

Photo via AP

The new kid in town is turning heads—particularly the head of Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez. After the Red Sox lost to the Detroit Tigers 2-1 on Monday, fans waited for how pitcher Chris Sale would react. And instead of expressing any disappointment that his team only scored one run, the newest addition to the Red Sox pitching team took responsibility for the loss.

“Just needed to bear down a little better,” he told the Boston Globe. “I just couldn’t corral it at the end.” It was this admission that impressed Martinez.

“He doesn’t settle for anything and I was so glad to see that. That demonstrates what his approach looks like,” Martinez told the Globe. “He reminds me of myself when I first got to Boston. You end up on the losing end and people want to cry because you didn’t get the run support or a reliever came in and blew away a great game.”

Martinez knows how hard losing can be. In a weird coincidence, he lost 2-1 in his second starting game with the Red Sox, back in 1998.

Sale, traded for Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech and two other young players in the off season to the Chicago White Sox, is part of an ambitious plan to bring the Sox back to the World Series this fall. The game on Monday was his 36th with double-digit strikeouts, but even that wasn’t enough to clinch a win.

He’ll get his next chance to bring home a win for the Red Sox on April 15 against the Tampa Bay Rays. But either way, it’s usually a good sign for how your new job is going if one of the team’s most famous players says you’re doing great.