The White Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve placed shortstop Tim Anderson on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 5, due to a strained left hamstring. Anderson exited Sunday’s game due to tightness in his hamstring, and it would seem that discomfort has not dissipated. Fellow infielder Danny Mendick was recalled from the Sox’ alternate site in Schaumburg to take Anderson’s spot on the roster.
With Anderson sidelined temporarily, the Sox are down two of their best hitters early in the season. Anderson’s absence obviously isn’t expected to be as lengthy as that of Eloy Jimenez, who is expected to miss the majority of the season due to a ruptured pectoral tendon, but his absence will be felt in the short-term.
Anderson, 27, was out to just a 3-for-15 start in 2021, though his work at the plate since Opening Day 2019 speaks for itself. He’s been not just one of Chicago’s best hitters over the past two seasons but one of the best hitters on the planet, raking at a .331/.357/.514 batting line with 28 homers, 43 doubles and a triple in 739 trips to the plate.
Mendick, a career .260/.292/.404 hitter in 154 big league plate appearances won’t replicate that offensive output, but he’ll give the South Siders a solid glove to install at the position while Anderson’s injury heals. He’s in the lineup at shortstop today, batting ninth for the series finale against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
Dumpster Divin Theo
Get well Timmay, Danny will be awright in the meantime
Dogbone
No worries Dumpster, your bullpen is flawless- per Stoney.
Idioms for Idiots
Gotta love that first week smack. It’s a shame the next 25 weeks are about simply going through the motions. Only a fool would think the Sox could come back and overtake a weak division with a horrid 3-4 start. Because obviously the bullpen won’t come around. Thank you, O wise one, for setting us straight regarding Stoney’s gaffe about the bullpen being flawless.
Dogbone
Awe comon don’t be modest. We all know at one time or other, in the last 6 months – Stevie Stone has probably said this entire Sox team is flawless. Lol.
Idioms for Idiots
Let’s see, the Sox have played as bad as you can possibly play, the bullpen has been the worst in baseball so far, the defense is sloppy, and the hitting is inconsistent. Yet, they are 3-4 and 1.5 games back with 155 games to play in the weakest division in baseball. You’re probably right, stick a fork in the Sox, they are done.
There’s always next year. You know that phrase all too well.
tesseract
White sox fail to roster a competent back up SS for 2nd year in a row. Unbelievable
beastee
that actually have Tim Beckham, but he is finishing off his suspension.
Aaron Sapoznik
I did some research on how many games (if any) Tim Beckham still needs to serve after being suspended on August 6th, 2019 following a positive test for the performance-enhancing drug Stanozolol. This article has three related posts with the oldest stating he still had 32 games left following the conclusion of the 2019 season: nbcsports.com/edge/baseball/mlb/player/19172/tim-b…
None of these are conclusive as to his current status which also points out he never signed with or played for an MLB organization during last year’s abbreviated COVID-19 season.
PeteWard8
Timmy and Eloy both out and Robert batting 6th today?
And Moncada getting baby rest? What gives? Can’t just throw games away.
cwsOverhaul
Leury and Mendick are what backup infielders look like. You can argue there aren’t enough competent starting SS around mlb.
maximumvelocity
Leury is a top-tier backup, frankly, and Mendick can at least field.
But I would rather have Beckham now because of he brings more offense (sometimes).
They actually are ok in middle infield in terms of immediate depth.
Dogbone
And now, the irreplaceable Billy Hamilton gets hurt.
Good thing the Chisox bullpen is as good as Steve Stone keeps telling you, it is.
Idioms for Idiots
Based on the huge sample size of 7 games. Might as well forget about it this season, 155 games isn’t enough time for the bullpen to turn it around.
j3weber
Dogbone, you might be as dumb as the brick wall around Wrigley. Another loser trolling Cubs Fan. How many Kris Bryant posters do you have over you bed? Get the f”ck out of here.
realsox
Bring back Yolmer Sanchez, who was recently released by the Orioles.
Aaron Sapoznik
The Braves signed Yolmer Sanchez to a minor league contract this past weekend after the Orioles surprisingly DFA’d and released earlier in the week: mlbtraderumors.com/2021/04/braves-sign-yolmer-sanc…
Additionally, Sanchez doesn’t play much SS anymore with his limited range and below average arm for the position.
tesseract
They are both competent infielders but Mendick does not have the arm to play SS in a daily basis. Leury is actually ok at SS but he is their super utility. A team expecting to contend needs to have a guy ready in AAA to play SS on an emergency basis. Defense over offense type of player.
maximumvelocity
Garcia is a pretty good backup option, too.
There really are no good replacements for starting SS, especially someone like Anderson.
mwrherm0
Mendick is more than capable of filling in and will help the defense. Next man up!
tesseract
Except he can’t really play SS. Lacks the arm.
maximumvelocity
Ugh.
Also no Mercedes in lineup today. Getting really stretched thin on bats.
They literally can’t afford another injury to a position player, especially if forbid it’s Robert or Eaton.
cwsOverhaul
Collins had a nice game, so was expecting TLR to DH him against RHP to see if he could also get in a groove….sit Yermin 1 game or call on him later to pinch hit if needed. More concerned personally about Keuchel not taking too big a step back/looking better.
Dogbone
Man, you guys sure worry a lot. Lol.
Idioms for Idiots
Worrying is a side effect of having a good team.
Dogbone
Or just maybe….. not having an 81 game winning one, in ten years.
Idioms for Idiots
Good point, though it could be worse. It could be a 100-year drought.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Well, this sucks.
Pretty fun player. Hope he gets back on the field soon. Man. It really seems like injuries are up but that might just be recency bias. Someone on the board claimed injuries are up 7% but he may have been making that up. I couldn’t tell.
We sure are seeing a lot of these kind of stories, though. Too many for my taste.
S.S.D.Y.
73% of all statistics are made up.
Ducky Buckin Fent
That actually seems kinda low…
blacksox
Yolmer not available. Picked up in minor league deal by Braves
Motown is My Town
Hamstrings don’t heal so quickly so I imagine Anderson will be out longer than 10 days. An early blow for the Chisox but it’s a long season.
wu tang killa beez
Damn I got Anderson, Rosenthal and Sixto Sanchez in my fantasy. Tough start
bazbal
In my AL-only league, I have Eloy Jimenez, Voit, Anderson, Paxton, Rosenthal and Brantley.
maximumvelocity
Can we get Ricky back, please? LaRussa’s pitcher management is awful.
BeeVeeTee
It’s one week into the season and people are already in an uproar. People must forget the season is a marathon and not a sprint. Early injuries to the White Sox’s offense with Eloy and TA is going to put a lot of pressure on the pitching staff to stay in games but again it’s the first week of the 2021 season.
The Sox did just play seven straight games then going on eight straight days without a day off, while they play 19 games in the first 20 days of this season, however, this all depends on the weather in Chicago in this weekend. Allegedly it’s going to rain all weekend so this series against the Royals might be postponed.
PutPeteinthehall
All will be fine on the south side of Chicago. Too early to worry. They waited to see how he would respond to treatment. This tells me it is not that serious of an injury and that the team realizes to wait until he’s 100 percent ready again. I don’t get the hate for Garcia or Mendick. They both are average utility men with Garcia actually more of a so called super utility player being able to play almost all of the positions.
BeeVeeTee
In all reality, Anderson has to prove himself this season with staying healthy, to playing stellar defense and stay consistent with hitting because Yolbert Sanchez is waiting to get his chance in the next two years. The White Sox have Anderson for this year and next season before they can opt out of his contract. Anderson missed a significant amount of time in 2019 meanwhile the White Sox are high on Yolbert Sanchez. Both Anderson and Sanchez play shortstop, however, Sanchez played with Robert in Cuba while the White Sox love their Cuban players. This is just food for thought in the next two years.
Dogbone
Plus they could always slide Madrigal over to SS.
The Baseball Fan
DANG IT. Get better soon Tim. Where’s Gordon Beckham when you need him? Lol