In what can quite literally only be described as wildly unsurprising news, Red Sox starter Chris Sale will not opt out of his contract with the team following the 2022 World Series, and will instead make the $55 million he’s due through the 2024 MLB season.

The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier was the first to report the news.

The news is Sale’s opt-in was a mere inevitability, as the 33-year-old lefty has thrown just 48.1 innings of work over the last three seasons due to various injuries.

A decision to undergo Tommy John surgery ruled Sale out for all of the pandemic-delayed 2020 season, and delayed his jump into the 2021 campaign, where Sale ultimately made nine starts and won five games for the Sox. Then came a stress fracture in his ribs, which ultimately delayed his 2022 and was almost immediately followed by a broken finger on his pitching hand, and then a broken wrist suffered in a cycling accident.

The injuries, while a seemingly neverending series of bumps in the road, are freak enough for the Sox to remain confident in Sale’s ability to successfully rebound and still play a major role for the club.

“Look, he’s a part of this,” Bloom said (via Speier). “We were really encouraged by how he looked when he came back in that short time before he got hurt again. We fully expect him to be a huge part of our success next year.”

Acquired from the White Sox in exchange for four players back in Dec. 2016, the 6-foot-6 Sale has compiled a 40-25 record with a 3.09 ERA in 95 starts with Boston.

Sale was an American League All-Star in his first two seasons with the club, and was a top-four finisher in the Cy Young voting in both of those seasons. Sale also had a 308-strikeout season for Boston in 2017.