White Sox prospect Jake Burger has been diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles tendon that will require surgery, per a club announcement. He’s expected to miss the entire 2018 campaign.
That’s obviously a highly disappointing development for both the player and the team. Burger, a third baseman by trade, was selected with the 11th overall pick in last year’s draft.
A highly productive collegiate power hitter, the 21-year-old Burger did not exactly dominate in his first professional season. He spent most of the year at the Class A level, where he slashed .271/.335/.409 with four home runs over two hundred plate appearances.
Despite the less-than-exciting debut, hopes remain high that Burger will become a part of a future core group. Unfortunately, his development will now be on hold for a season while he works back from this significant injury.
Yikes
wish the kid a speedy recovery.
Sad dustin fowler 2.0
Fowler’s right knee struck a metal utility box and he suffered an open rupture of his right patellar tendon in his right knee.
This guy suffered Ruptured Achilles. After hitting the ball to the left side of the infield, he fell to the ground running to first.
Ruptured Achilles is no laughing matter. Kobe tore his Achilles, which sped up his retirement. I believe while both these are two of the most brutal injuries,.. Achilles is more severe, and has greater impact, for long-term. From all reports, Fowler’s making good progress….I hope I can say the same for this guy.
I’m not sure why Fowler is being mentioned. Different types of player. Different points in their career. Different injuries. Different circumstances led to the injuries. They don’t even play in the same organization. There’s really not much that would cause someone to think of Fowler outside the fact that they were both young players that got hurt. But then why not just bring up every young player who has ever suffered a major injury?
That said – Both injuries are devastating, but the impact they have on a player’s long term development can’t be speculated without taking the players skill set into account.
Power is generated by torquing the knee. So a power hitter who tears the knee of his back leg is going to face a tougher road back to hitting for power. The Achilles connects the foot to the calf and is hugely important for speed. So a player who has a huge speed component to his game is going to face a tougher road back. Fortunately for Burger, he’s never been confused for a speed guy.
Ryan Howard 2.0?
Much better. Well done. You a Dr.? You have an insanely good memory. How could I forget Howard? Although, Ryan Howard suffered his injury on the last play, of last game of series, as Phillies were eliminated,..
But the injury and manner each player suffered the injury were identical. Howard was also running to first… and Howard also suffered rupture of his Achilles tendon rupture… Same leg too…
The good news is, Burger is much younger than Howard was.
I hate this injury.
I’ll forego any cheesy comments about his name and conditioning (well, almost), but I hope this kid realizes that carrying extra weight will emperil his career. Running to first base should not be a risky task.
Gonna throw out that he legged out a triple and a double the first 2 games.
It will be tough for him to ketchup when he returns.
Nice!
That was a cheesy comment. I don’t want to put you in a pickle.
it’s a shame that his results in Single A weren’t all that hot. Kid just couldn’t cut the mustard. Hopefully he’ll make a strong comeback and we can all relish in the story of his success.
Cmon, lettuce all stop with the jokes and just wish the kid a full recovery
Mayo he have a full recovery.
You guys are going to get grilled for these comments
I saw it in person. It was like tomatoh my god
Damn. 3 games, 2 top 15 prospects potentially lost for the year, and Eloy nursing a sore knee. (plus Rodon recovering from shoulder surgery)
Sox are going to regret not being able to trade Yolmer, Jose and Avi this offseason. Need to keep building that depth.
Would have been cool to see the Brewers make a move for Abreu. He could be a real asset at 1st, and eliminate the need for a platoon. Maybe Thames, Brett Phillips, Corey Ray gets it done? Or add a lotto ticket type. Seems that was never really considered by Milwaukee, however.
This fat guy? Lol
Yah, I’m not all that worried about Micker’s injury because I’m not high on him at all, but this one hurts a little bit. I’m hoping/assuming they are just babying Eloy right now because the year just started and there’s no point to push him too hard, but if that one ends up being anything serious, that’ll be a gigantic setback.
Hard to make that argument about Yolmer, Jose, and Avi though. Based on recent activity (or lack thereof), I don’t think the market is there. There is no point in moving these guys right now just for the sake of moving them. If Hahn didn’t get any offers he liked, he’s not going to regret anything. Not to mention Yolmer and Avi are only 26, so even if they do end up sticking around, it’s not like they’ll be even close to past their prime when the rebuild is “hopefully* done.
Adolfo is underrated in part to his age and inability to stay on the field thus far. It has been easy for White Sox’s fans to over look him do to Roberts and jiminez ahead of him in the rankings. Burger coming back from an Achilles injury just seems not great at all, and that’s devastating to have a first round pick not pan out in the midst of a rebuild. I hate to give up on the guy without knowing him personally. I’ll just judge what I see and it’s a guy who doesn’t look like he works very hard in the gym and likely road his natural gift to play baseball at a high level to this point. Now his ability to work through his rehab will decide his fate, my bets on him never playing in a white Sox mlb game. I hope I’m wrong.
Adolfo has 2 strong tools, his power and his arm. Outside of that, he leaves a lot to be desired, and it has nothing to do with Jimenez or Robert. Personally, I don’t think his bat will ever be good enough to take advantage of that raw power. I hope I’m wrong, but that’s how I see it.
As for Burger, I agree with the first part of your comment – it sucks, and it can be devastating if he’s not able to make it back. As for the rest of the comment, I think you’re waaaaay too quick to judge a book by its cover based on some pictures you’ve seen of him. I’d be willing to bet he works SIGNIFICANTLY harder than you think. He’s 6’2 210 pounds. He absolutely doesn’t carry it the way anybody would prefer, but everybody is different.
In regards to him riding his “natural gift” and not putting in the necessary work, I’d say that’s a pretty significant stretch. He was undrafted out of high school and went to play in the Missouri Valley Conference, hardly a hotbed for baseball talent. From there, he managed to turn himself into a high first round pick. Natural talent absolutely plays into that, but to discard the amount of work that I can all but guarantee he put in is ridiculous. And based on what exactly? Solely his body type. Every report I’ve ever read about him mentioning work ethic puts it as a plus to plus-plus for him. Until I read/see otherwise, or he balloons up to 6’2 250+, his work ethic isn’t even close to a concern for me.
But that’s just by 2 cents on him. I could absolutely be wrong, and I’ll happily admit it if something happens that proves I am. I just know that for most players/prospects, it takes a heck of a lot more than natural talent to take the path that he took to where he is today. I’ll save the “natural talent” argument for high school pitchers being drafted extremely high solely because they can hit 100+ MPH on the radar gun – Tyler Kolek being the perfect example that comes to mind.
From what I understand a very painful injury and rehab process. Hope he makes a full recovery.
Dang. I was really looking forward to him moving up to Winston-Salem and/or Birmingham this year. Kanapolis is generally a horrible stop for power hitters, so I wasn’t upset at all about his low-ish slugging numbers last year.
Luckily mobility was/is not one of his major assets. Based on everything I’ve seen/read about him, he seems like a great kid with a good head on his shoulders, so I’m sure he’ll work hard to get back as soon and as strong as possible. Hoping for a quick, full recovery.
Does this make any pursuit of Moose more likely now? I’d love for sox to get Moose on like a 3 year deal. Could be the veteran leader they need in 2 or 3 years when they’re hopefully in contention.
No
In 2019, the Sox might, just might, contend for a WC. 2020 is the more likely arrival date of this club. With a 3 year deal, he’d still miss most of their window.
Also, there are a couple better options on next year’s FA market in Donaldson (on, say, a 4-year deal) or Machado (on an 8-year deal if that’s what it takes). Plus, if the Sox strike out on both of these, they might be able to trade from their surplus of pitching (provided most of their guys work out, which may be too optimistic) to pick up another 3B or Burger might come back or they have a few utility guys who could step in while they figure it out. Really no need to sign Moose.
Jonah Hill baller for Missouri State I mean Jake Burger.
Eat mor chickin
Hope he doesn’t return weighing 350
You should be hoping he returns… Period.
This isn’t Tommy john or torn ACL. I’m going to be following this guy’s rehab and root for his comeback.
I just want to throw out there that the White Sox also have a player with the last name “Fry”.
I wasn’t the first one to notice or post this, just passing it along for your enjoyment.
Do you realize this sets back a year full of “Burger” puns? I was hoping to have plenty by 2019. Good luck Jake, wish you well in recovery.
Fat jokes aside, if I had the last name burger I would do all I could to not be overweight. Hopefully he’s in good shape when he returns.
Fear not WS fans, Davidson is going to figure out how to make contact and hit 60 HRs. He’s trying to be 2018 version of Judge.
I’d settle for him not being a poor man’s Adam Dunn. If he hits .260 or better and walks at least 50 times (as opposed to 19 last year), I’d be satisfied with that improvement.
Is that him in the picture?
He looks like a person throwing out the first pitch
He ate a few too many burgers
mmmmm…burger
not gonna lie this post made me hungry
That’s a crappy way to start your first spring training. Hope he comes back strong next year. They need a long-term solution at 3B.