The White Sox announced today that they’ve placed center fielder Austin Jackson on the 15-day disabled list with a medial meniscus tear in his left knee. Jackson will undergo surgery to repair the injury and will miss a minimum of six weeks, GM Rick Hahn told reporters, including Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (Twitter link). Beyond that, Hayes tweets that  Hahn informed the media that relievers Jake Petricka and Daniel Webb have undergone season-ending surgery. Webb had Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament, while Petricka required surgery to repair an impingement in his right hip. Outfielder Jason Coats has been recalled from Triple-A Charlotte to take Jackson’s spot on the roster.
The loss of Jackson won’t subtract an overly productive bat from the club’s everyday lineup — Jackson is hitting .254/.318/.343 through 204 plate appearances — but it will thin the team’s outfield depth and deprive the Sox of their primary center fielder. Adam Eaton shifted over to center field for tonight’s contest and could very well take the reins at the position he frequented for the first four seasons of his big league career. Jackson had posted below-average defensive metrics in center this season, but Eaton rated as arguably the best defender in all of baseball while playing right field, so moving him off that position could be a detriment to the club’s overall outfield defense even if his work in center is a small step up from that of Jackson. Eaton, after all, also carries below-average Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating marks in center field for his career.
Petricka, 28, is a particularly big loss for the Chicago bullpen. While he’s hardly a shutdown reliever, the former second-round pick tallied 144 1/3 innings of 3.24 ERA ball across the 2013-15 seasons for the ChiSox and had averaged 64.5 appearances over the past two seasons. He’s been limited to eight innings this year, however, as a result of the hip injury that ultimately required surgery. Webb, meanwhile, opened the season in Triple-A and pitched just one inning in late April before landing on the disabled list with right flexor inflammation. While he struggled through the 2015 campaign (6.30 ERA in 30 innings), Webb was better in 2013-14, pitching to a 3.87 ERA in a combined 79 innings out of the bullpen. The hard-thrower averaged nearly 96 mph on his fastball in that 2013-14 span, but his heater was sitting at 92 mph in his lone big league appearance of the 2016 season (though he still managed to strike out the side).
While the Sox can stick with Coats and Avisail Garcia and cover right field internally, the team has shown a very proactive approach in attempting to right the ship after a hot start disintegrated into a .500 record. The South Siders have already picked up James Shields in a trade and designated Mat Latos for assignment, and earlier today the team promoted top shortstop prospect Tim Anderson from Triple-A and designated veteran Jimmy Rollins for assignment. The Sox have already been connected to both left-handed bats and bullpen help, so it’s reason to believe that these significant hits to their depth could push Hahn and his staff into further action on the trade market. Jay Bruce and, to a lesser extent, Carlos Gonzalez stand out as reasonable options on that would satisfy Chicago’s desire for a left-handed bat and fill the right field void left by Eaton. Alternatively, they could pursue a left-handed bat with center field experience such as San Diego’s Jon Jay. Petricka and Webb, while neither are exactly cornerstone relievers for the Sox, further deplete the organizational depth and could lead the Sox to pursue any of the considerable amount of relievers that are currently available or could become available on the trade market.
Gotta suck for White Sox fans. The team tricked them into thinking they were good early, and now everything is falling back to Earth.
Agreed. They’re unwatchable again as they have been for the last few seasons. Before we could attribute it to the Dunn and LaRoche debacles. Now what?
Cubbie fan coming to get in a poke at the Sox. Cubbie fans have always said they *NEVER* do that. Cubbie fans have always said only Sox fans stoop so low. Cubbie fans have always said that if and when the Cubbies do well, Cubbie fans would never take a moment of time to mock the Sox.. They boasted that they’d concentrate solely on “their” team. Clearly that’s all as my grandma would say, BUNK!
Haha, please. I was hardly poking Sox fans. I simply stated that I feel bad for them, because the team got their hopes up early and they are finally playing like most people thought they would coming into the season.
Also, I don’t what “Cubbies” fans you talk to, but we have no love for the South Siders.
“Finally playing like most people thought they would coming into the season.”
That’s laughable at best. Nobody with a brain thought they’d be playing THIS poorly.
Ah how condescending of you.
It’s “Cubs” not cubbies, grow up
How do you sing it, “Root, root for the …”
Drcrawdad is a troll
“One Fan” is a Cubbie fan trolling this White Sox discussion
They have the pieces too for a good core. Two top 25 starting pitchers, quiet stars in Abreu and Eaton, and one of the best closers in the game. They’re the team that should be good, but just can’t seem to ever figure it out
Stars and scrubs rarely works. They have all of those players, but their abysmal farm system has been incapable of providing the role players to fill the holes.
That’s harsh
Nothing on here about the Cubs-Yanks rumors swirling around? Seems to be an MLB transaction wire site lately.
False rumors I hear. Just the Cubs scouting the Yankees personal as they normally would. The sources reporting aren’t really well thought of either
I’ve read some of the names involved are just speculation, but the discussions are serious. I believe this source broke the news of the Stanton extension and Maeda signing
Jorge Soler is a bust
Yeah he’s clearly a bust. At 24 how will he ever bounce back? Moron
Haha Cubs fan I love how you told that schmuck how it is!
Yeah he has been a schmuck. He calls anyone who says 1 bad thing about a Cub an idiot or a moron
Let me ask him if Heyward has had a good season so far. He will probably say Yes.
Sounds like how Select Cubs fans bash Teheran in other feeds. I think Soler will still be a stud, no HOF but a good 3-4 AS appearances. He is just on a stacked roster right now.
The only reason he’ll likely have 3-4 AS appearances is because the AS game is a popularity contest and he’s a Cub. Being an all star doesn’t mean much of anything.
The White Sox have tried to be proactive about holes because of their start, but they probably needed to fill them in the off season and are now playing at the level they are because of so many very considerable holes.
If they really want to shore things up, see if Milwaukee will trade Braun and Lucroy. A package like that would fix the offense, adding two plus bats (one very considerable one) and a guy that can fill in at catcher, DH, or replace a struggling Abreu (whatever the team might need him to do on any given night).
Not a bad idea at all, Braun has a massive contract, but Jerry has a big wallet.
boston baltimore texas seattle cleveland kc det. sox in big trouble playing the hand they got. dont wait too long to fill up the holes guys. gotta act now while the record is still decent.
They have a good core to build around and need to trade for some solid players now. Maybe call the Mariners about Kyle Seager?
It would take the same haul it takes to get Mike Trout to get Kyle Seager. Seattle won’t give Seager up because of the value he brings to the team. And why would the Mariners start rebuilding in the middle of the season when they are only 3.5 out of first?
Ya seagers a very bad guy to target. There’s absolutely no reason Seattle should trade him, especially when they currently occupy a playoff spot
Those three players aren’t and won’t be the reason the sox fail. It’s because you have dumb and dumber in the front office not knowing how to build a team. Namely Williams and Hahn. Throw in their buddy, the yes man, Ventura and there’s the answer to the question, “why have the sox sucked for four years”.
You hit the nail on the head!!
He can’t stay healthy, he’s way overhyped, he has yet to prove anything at the major league level…Cubs need to trade him now. 2-3AS appearances in his career maybe
two or three All-Star games in a career is pretty damn impressive. Tim Salmon, who was a very good player, never made an all-star team. Steve Finley, who was a terrific player, made just 2 all-star teams. If Soler turned into Steve Finley I think the Cubs would be pretty excited.
For the most part, the All-Star game is a popularity contest. He’s a Cub, so he’ll likely get in at some point even if he’s only slightly above average (assuming he’s still playing for them at the time).
This discussion has turned incredibly dull.
Is this what you guys do all day?
The rebuild is going in the right direction for the ChiSox. They don’t have to change plans in an attempt to go from worst to first this season.
The rebuild is going in the right direction for the ChiSox. They don’t have to change plans in an attempt to go from a bad team last season to first place this season. Even if they win the division, I don’t see them getting too far in the playoffs…. save a miracle team run.