The White Sox have placed center fielder Luis Robert on the COVID-19 injured list. Corner infielder Jake Burger was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte to take his place on the active roster.
Speaking with reporters (including James Fegan of the Athletic), general manager Rick Hahn indicated that Robert has been experiencing symptoms of the virus. Whether he’s tested positive isn’t clear, but Hahn indicated he didn’t expect the 2020 Gold Glove winner to return to the team until next week. In the meantime, it seems likely Adam Engel will handle the center field duties, as he is tonight against the Guardians.
Robert is off to another great start to the season. One of the game’s top defensive outfielders, the Cuba native also consistently posts quality production at the plate. This season, the 24-year-old is hitting .285/.319/.438. That’s far better than the .237/.308/.380 league average offensive output, and Robert has also chipped in six stolen bases. While he’s not likely to be out for an extended period of time, the Sox will be down one of their best players for the next few games.
Hahn provided more fortuitous news on a pair of key players rehabbing from injury. Both starter Lance Lynn and left fielder Eloy Jiménez are likely to head out on minor league rehab assignments within a week. That’s not particularly surprising in Lynn’s case, as the big right-hander had progressed to throwing to live hitters. It’s a more positive development for Jiménez, who is exactly a month removed from a hamstring tendon tear that initially came with a six-to-eight week recovery timetable.
Pitchers are allotted up to 30 days on rehab assignments; those stints can last as many as 20 days for position players. Lynn is still at least a few weeks from his return, as he’s on the 60-day injured list and not eligible to make his season debut until June 6 at the earliest. Jiménez, meanwhile, seems to be trending towards the earlier end of his initial timetable. The power-hitting outfielder had scuffled through the season’s first couple weeks, hitting .222/.256/.333 with a lone homer in 11 games.
And they’re done. Stick a fork in the White Sox and their “window of contention”. That window never opened because they, once again, refuse to spend money when it’s needed. All White Sox fans get is Ground Hog Day from this franchise, “Put your little hand in my……”. Year after year after year… I blame Reinsdorf for basically not giving a #### about anything other than revenues. I also blame Rick Hahn by proxy for running his damned mouth about “not being done with this roster” the last three seasons, and then not doing a damn thing to back it up. And please, sycophants, spare me the nonsense about Liam Hendriks, Grandal and assortment of non-factor journeymen they’ve added to hide their absolute failure and shame the last few offseasons. EVERY not rebuilding needs a damn closer. That is not a championship move. Every team nerds a damn catcher, too. The our moves .500 teams should make. You’re not, however, winning a championship in 2022 with bench players playing everyday in RF and at 2B. You’re not winning playoff games, let alone a championship, with young OFs who get hurt and miss considerable time YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR. They need the roster needed more offensive help considering their dismal performance in the playoffs in consecutive seasons, yet they chose to do nothing about it. They’re done. See you in 10 years, maybe.
I bet you could get Nick Madrigal back from the Cubs – call 1-800-CUBS.
Madrigal is at Iowa AAA
Hey I hear Wrigley has some space for you. This team won 93 games last year with all of those injuries. Injuries are part of the game and for some teams can be a disaster for a season. The season s a grind and I would show any concern unless they are 10 games back on 4th of July weekend. You can spend all the money in the world, but it doesn’t guaranty a championship. I’m sure you’d be just fine sitting on Semien”s $175M contract verses Harrison’s $5M deal since they are both hitting .180.
This team is relying on young, injury prone OFs to carry the team offensively. THREE SEASONS of this! The offense is anemic—it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that Eloy and Luis Robert can’t carry this team through a full season. They signed all of these guys to multi-year contracts create “roster flexibility”. Yet they couldn’t sign ONE premium 5-tool player to provide stable and consistent run production? The Braves tried being frugal with roster spending and it failed. Look what happened when they spent a little more on offensive firepower. We all know Reinsdorf could care less about a damn championship at this point, so they’ll never spend money on anything remotely approaching an impact talent, which should frustrate the hell out of you if you’re a fan who cares.
A team that is supposedly ‘all in’ to win it goes for top talent. Story was also available, he is now busy hitting Grand slams for the Red Sox. Semien I m not a fan of, but if you are actually saying you would take Josh Harrison over Semien during the last offseason you are full of it. You get a top RF, not trade for a middling guy like Pollack (who I like but he is not an All star type player). Again if a team is ‘all in’ you make the ‘no brainer’ moves to get the best talent.. Go bargain basement shopping and you get the White Sox….
Look, if Hahn got Semien and he hits like crap, well that is on the player, at least Hahn tried. But he did not, he tried to out think everyone in the room (a classic KW move by the way, that and going after the guys now based on their baseball card stats from 5 years ago). I mean really, before this season, who is likely to have (and still have) a great season: Harrison or Semien? Harrison or Story? Sheets/Vaughn or a guy like Kris Bryant? This team has massive holes last year and Hahn did little if anything to really address them (cough 2nd base cough). Also they never addresses the lack of will and heart this club has. Maybe if Moncada did not have his singing career and his three hundread chains around his neck and focused on baseball he would not get hurt as much and actually hit like he is supposed to.. Maybe if they did not have a guy who was hitting gold balls a few years ago dragged back to the clubhouse for an easy check maybe they have more heart and grit, but now, the Sox have what they have, and if anyone thinks this team is really that much better than last years team (that got destroyed by the Astros by the way) they are deluding themselves.
The White Sox are only four back. They will win their division as their players come off the IL. I do agree that they likely won’t maximize their win-now opportunity. That’s a JR issue.
Only four back with one of the worst offenses in baseball. So what is the point of making the playoffs? To what end. They get a WC birth just to get handed their #%% on a platter against a substantially superior team. Expecting a different result from what we’ve seen is madness.
Eeeeeasy, big fella!
It’s not even June yet, and your Sox are only a half-game out of the Wild Card.
Fink & L99: Did you guys hear the ESPN announcer compare Robert’s power to Stanton’s in their last game? Wow, what a toolbag. The two are nothing alike, at all. Stanton-like power? Lol, C’mon, man. Do better.
Someone should document all these grown adults crying like babies so we can laugh at them in October. Don’t quit your day job haters, order up… I’ll take my cheeseburger now.
Chicago sports fans say this every season/every team. I’ve watched the Sox/Bears/Bulls/Cubs for 40+ years, and guess what I’ve learned about your little fairytale “anything can happen” bs? It’s not happening. You want to win championships, you need the talent. It’s an arms race—you need to do what other teams do yo keep up. It’s become apparent to me that nearly all the owners of Chicago’s professional sports franchises are grossly incompetent. Wirth of the Blackhawks being the lone exception. Reinsdorf got lucky with Jordan. It’s a miracle Jordan won 1 championship, let alone six with such a cheap a$$, risk adverse owner. But yeah, if you’re intelligent and you understand baseball and how teams are constructed to win championships, you wouldn’t be so gullible and flippant. The White Sox aren’t even close to being a contender, and their brain trust knows this. That should sicken you that they’re not serious about any of this.
Maybe we should document all the fools that blindly follow this Sox team like they have a legit chance to get to the WS, let alone the playoffs this season.
Oh man, you give up easily. They just won 13-20, and I’d make a serious wager that they will win their division.
I don’t give a #### about winning the AL Central. That means nothing to me, and shouldn’t mean anything to Sox fans who actually pay attention to this team for more than the last three years.
What a whiner! The White Sox spent to get Hendricks, who for the last two years has been THE best closer in all of baseball, and you’re complaining about their closer?!! Grandal has his faults, but is by no means the reason for the teams success level. He’s a bit overpaid, but have you looked at what’s out there at the position? I think the White Sox are over rated and maxed out, but those players are not the problem.
What! Grandal is not a part of the problem? Lol.
Closers don’t mean ### if you score 3 runs a game. Are you kidding me with this ###?!
Wow, if ChiSoxCity is having a meltdown that means things on the Southside are worse than I thought.
Are you kidding? The Sox ‘players’ are the issue., a bunch of guys buying their hype and for what? 4.5 (or is it now 5.5) in a weak division that a ‘all in’/’win now’ team should be dominating?
This club has NO heart, and its been this way for the past few seasons.. When they have to face tough competition they wilt like a flower in the hot sun…
Yeah, OK, I love the excuse makers as they come out:
Buts its still early
But their bats will come around
They’re pitching will be fine, everyone has a bad game (or 8 in the Sox pitcher’s cases)
Oh people need to relax
And my favorite: but they have to play tough games away…
Yeah, OK. These will be the same goofs asking ‘what happened’ when the Sox players are busy working on their golf games….
I see a LOT of ifs and Buts going on, but if you have to hope THAT much that all of these things fall into place and if you believe that will happen, I have a bridge in New York Id like to sell you
If this is how you feel about entertainment I’d hate to hear how you feel about politics, poverty and human rights.
The guy the personification of a 670 WSCR caller.
White Sox are playing the Red Sox tonight, not the Guardians.
I bet the W Sox wish they were playing the Guardians tonite.
I wonder what the odds are, that once activated, Eloy is back on the IL before the 4th of July.
Not as great as the Cubs trading All Star catcher and fan favorite Wilson Contreras because, you know, they’re broke. LOLZ
Contreras to White Sox
I think you should trade for Willson Contreras, because you’ll soon find out that the Cubs are better off without him. The guy can’t call a game.
Not to mention all that we don’t know about his personal life.
Note to Anthony Franco:. Tonight is the Sox vs. the Sox (not Cleveland).
Paul Fry is on waivers , if only Phil Coke could make a comeback. Once in a lifetime , Burger , Fry and Coke.
It depends on your beverage of choice, but you could always have a Beer with the Burger and Fry.
Yes true. And all active 🙂 , Coke would probably be a bit flat by now.
Why do White Sox always have bring up the Cubs. The Cubs suck this year and their fans know it.
Anthony doesn’t seem to know what “fortuitous” means. Dang.
Real——if you break it down, he’s probably technically correct linking any rehab news to Eloy as fortuitous. Since the definition is happening by a lucky chance….using Eloy and potential good health in the same paragrah fits the bill.
Its a cruel and sad fact. There’s a point where age catches up with us. We need to know when to step away. In MLB, it happened to Connie Mack, Mugsy McGraw, Casey Stengel, Sparky Anderson, Jim Leyland and most notably for the ChiSox, Paul Richards, who ruined the ChiSox for years following.
The ChiSox Jerry Reinsdorf / Tony LaRussa tandem remind me of the Mike Illich / Jim Leyland duo. Both GMs built great teams who could win on their own only to have them mismanaged on the field. The owners were unable to understand the shortcomings of their aging Managers.
LaRussa gonna make Adam Engel or Grandal hit a baseball for a change? LaRussa gonna make Eloy stay on the field for more that 50 games in a season? How about Robert? How about Moncada? LaRussa gonna make this pathetic lineup slug? Can LaRussa play RF or 2B and provide some offense from either position for a change? If you said no to all of these questions then a manager’s not going to fix this team. The roster is the problem, genius.
If Seattle continues to slump, the Sox should trade for Adam Frazier… and also consider a package including Luis Robert for Juan Soto.
Why would Washington be interested in that arrangement?
What arrangement? I only mentioned the one player.
Sox ain’t trading Lu Bob.
The Sox can make all the moves they want, but this team needs to go to Oz and seek some heart. And with the way they are batting, maybe they should be called the Chicago Stormtroopers because they cannot hit the broadside of a barn and thats AFTER a supposed close door meeting with the hitting coaches! Ugh.
The Sox still need a 2nd baseman and RF, and a starter. I want to see one Sox pitcher actually look the part of an Ace (Kopech is close but still needs seasoning). Giolito? Hah, Lynn? ten years ago (and the fact he is still the best pitcher on this roster should be worrying every Sox fan). Cease? Yeah what happened the last few starts? Cueto? Looked good but was better 5 years ago. Its bad when your aged/hurting vets out perform your supposed ‘Ace’ on the roster.
Sure you can now trade for good talent, but then Hahn has to empty what little he has in the minors now.. He could have dropped coin on some proven players in the offeason but did not (and if they fail, it costs you cash sure, but not your prospects).
Hey miracles can happen, but I have watched enough Sox baseball (over 30 years now) to know when a team is really going nowhere. I have had faith in Hahn but now? Not so much, and LaRussa has no place in this dugout.. not saying Renteria did either, but I mean dragging a guy out of retirement to coach a young team? Sure anything is possible, but its not likely it is going to pan out well.