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White Sox Place Yasmani Grandal On Injured List, Activate Lance Lynn

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The White Sox announced they’ve placed catcher Yasmani Grandal on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 12, due to lower back spasms. Coming off the IL to take his active roster spot is starter Lance Lynn, who is in line to make his season debut. In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Lynn — who had been on the 60-day IL — the club has placed reliever Ryan Burr on release waivers.

Grandal missed yesterday’s game against the Rangers because of a left hamstring issue, but the back spasms diagnosis comes as a surprise. Chicago selected Seby Zavala to the MLB roster yesterday as insurance, and he figures to back up Reese McGuire for as long as Grandal is out. The two-time All-Star will be eligible to return by the middle of next week, but the team has yet to provide any sort of timetable for his recovery.

Even prior to the injury, the 2022 campaign has been a nightmare for Grandal. Typically one of the game’s best offensive catchers, the 33-year-old has had a very rough first couple months of the season. Over 201 plate appearances, he’s hitting .185/.294/.237 with just a pair of home runs. Grandal is still drawing walks at an excellent 13.4% clip, but he’s collected only five extra-base hits all year as his batted ball quality has plummeted. It’s a rather shocking downturn for a player who hit .240/.420/.520 in 93 games last season, and the IL stint will perhaps afford Grandal an opportunity for a mental reset as he searches for his previous form.

McGuire, acquired from the Blue Jays just before Opening Day, hasn’t made much of an offensive impact either. He’s hitting .235/.280/.286 in 110 trips to the plate in a Chicago uniform, a step back from the .253/.310/.343 mark he posted in Toronto last year. A left-handed hitter, he’ll pair with the righty-swinging Zavala to form the catching tandem for manager Tony La Russa for now.

Lynn is listed as the probate starter for tonight’s game against the Tigers. La Russa suggested yesterday he’d likely be activated on Tuesday, but he’ll take the ball for the first time a day earlier than anticipated. The 35-year-old righty has been out all season after undergoing right knee surgery in April, but he’s now ready to get back on the hill. That should be a notable boost for a Chicago team that owns a disappointing 27-31 record, as Lynn has been one of the game’s most effective arms over the past couple years. He tossed 157 innings of 2.69 ERA ball last season, earning a two-year contract extension in the process.

Burr, meanwhile, could be seeing his time in the organization come to a close. A Diamondbacks draftee, he was acquired by the ChiSox as a minor leaguer in 2017 and reached the bigs a season later. He’s suited up at the MLB level in each of the past four years, making 66 appearances. The righty has a 4.08 ERA across 75 innings, including an excellent 2.45 mark through 36 2/3 frames a season ago. However, he’s posted a mediocre 20.6% strikeout rate and an elevated 12.2% walk percentage during his MLB tenure.

It seems the primary impetus for Burr’s release, however, is a health issue. The 28-year-old has been on the minor league injured list for the past couple weeks with an undisclosed injury. Players on the MiLB IL still count against a team’s 40-man roster, but injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers. To take Burr off the 40-man roster, Chicago either had to release him or recall him and place him on the MLB 60-day IL. The latter course of action would’ve required paying him a major league salary, however, and the Sox have decided they’d rather expose him to waivers.

While Burr hasn’t missed many bats at the MLB level, he’s induced grounders on more than half the balls in play against him and averaged around 95 MPH on his fastball. That could intrigue another team enough to grab him and stash him on their 40-man roster or major league injured list. If Burr clears waivers, he’d be a free agent.

Lance Lynn Likely To Be Activated Tuesday

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White Sox manager Tony La Russa tells reporters, including Scott Merkin of MLB.com, that starter Lance Lynn will likely be reinstated from the injured list in order to start Tuesday’s game against the Tigers.

Acquired from the Rangers prior to the 2021 season, Lynn had just one year remaining on his contract at the time he joined the Pale Hose. He was excellent in his first few months with the White Sox, throwing 90 2/3 innings over 16 starts with a 1.99 ERA. That showing was enough for them to put down $38MM in order to keep him around for two more seasons, with a club option for 2024 as well.

Coming into this year, Lynn was set to be a key member of a rotation that looked to be a strength for the South Siders, though that hasn’t gone according to plan. Lynn left his final Spring Training start with discomfort in his right knee, the same knee that sent him to the injured list for a time in 2021. He ultimately required surgery and has been working his way back to health ever since.

The Sox have seen their rotation depth tested in a few different ways this year, on top of not yet having any contributions from Lynn thus far. Lucas Giolito has been on the IL twice, Vince Velasquez is currently out due to a groin injury, and Dallas Keuchel struggled enough to get released. Still, the starting corps has still held its own, thanks to strong performances from Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Johnny Cueto. Chicago starters have a 3.99 ERA on the year as a unit, 14th-best in the majors, not terrible considering the hiccups they’ve faced.

The club has been weathering their injuries enough to tread water in the American League postseason race, currently sitting on a 27-30 record, just 2 1/2 games out of a playoff spot. If Lynn can return and show anything resembling his 2019-2021 form, he will give a huge boost to the club. Over those three seasons, he threw 449 1/3 innings with a 3.26 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate. The 12.3 fWAR he accumulated in that time was fifth among qualified pitchers across baseball, trailing only Jacob deGrom, Gerrit Cole, Zack Wheeler and Max Scherzer. Once Lynn takes the ball, the rotation should be at full strength, with the 35-year-old slotting next to Giolito, Cease, Kopech and Cueto. Davis Martin, who recently fared well in three spot starts (one behind an opener), will likely be bumped down to the sixth spot on the depth chart, pitching in Triple-A or long relief in the meantime.

AL Central Notes: Lynn, Candelario, Tigers, Twins, Ryan, Dobnak

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Lance Lynn is scheduled to make his third rehab start on Wednesday, White Sox manager Tony La Russa told reporters (including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).  Beyond that, La Russa left open the possibility that Lynn could be activated from the 60-day injured list, assuming that the veteran right-hander is feeling good coming out of that next Triple-A outing.

Knee surgery sidelined Lynn in early April, so the hurler has yet to make his 2022 debut.  Getting Lynn back in action would be a huge help to a Chicago team that has been bitten hard by the injury bug, but the White Sox are still treading water despite a shorthanded roster.  The White Sox improved to 25-27 after today’s 6-5 win over the Rays.

More from around the AL Central…

  • Speaking of injury-riddled teams, the Tigers may have suffered another loss as Jeimer Candelario left today’s game in the second inning due to a left shoulder injury.  Candelario dove to try and snag a Josh Donaldson line drive, but was shaken up on the play, and had to be replaced mid-inning at third base by Harold Castro.  Since Detroit doesn’t have games on either Monday or Thursday, it’s possible the club could wait a few days to see if Candelario can avoid the IL, though the third baseman’s condition could be determined earlier based on tests.  Like many Tigers hitters, Candelario is suffering through a rough year at the plate, hitting only .181/.236/.319 over 195 plate appearances.
  • Some reinforcements could be on the way for the Tigers, as manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen) that Austin Meadows is tentatively ready to be activated from the 10-day IL on Tuesday.  Meadows has been battling vertigo symptoms and was placed on the IL in mid-May.  As for other injured Tigers, both Eduardo Rodriguez and Robbie Grossman could be close to starting rehab assignments.
  • Twins manager Rocco Baldelli provided Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter links) and other reporters with some updates on injured players, including the status of right-hander Joe Ryan.  After being placed on the COVID-related injured list on May 25, Ryan has tossed one bullpen session already and will throw another, more intense session today or Tuesday.  It isn’t yet known if Ryan will require a rehab start in the minors before returning to Minnesota’s rotation.
  • While Ryan may be close to a return, the news isn’t good for Randy Dobnak, as Baldelli said the right-hander recently suffered a setback with his injured right middle finger.  It has been almost a full year since Dobnak initially sprained his finger, and he has pitched in only one MLB game since (on September 3, 2021).

White Sox Place Luis Robert On Injured List; Lynn, Jimenez Nearing Rehab Assignments

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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.

Injury Notes: Bryant, Renfroe, Lynn

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Rockies left fielder Kris Bryant was scratched from yesterday’s game about 90 minutes before first pitch due to continued discomfort in his back, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. He’ll be further evaluated today, but it’s an ominous scratch given that Bryant only just returned from a month-long absence due to a lower back injury.

Signed to a seven-year, $182MM contract in free agency this past offseason, Bryant was viewed by the Rockies as a potential lineup centerpiece who’d bolster a revamped outfield that also featured trade acquisition Randal Grichuk. Bryant, however, has gotten out to a tepid .270/.342/.333 start to the season and yet to put a ball in the seats. The Rox barely changed the rest of their roster but did sign four in-house players to multi-year extensions (Ryan McMahon, Antonio Senzatela, C.J. Cron and Elias Diaz). Ownership and the restructured/thinned-out front office group clearly had confidence that last year’s group could deliver better results, and while that’s been true to an extent, the Rox are currently at fifth place in the NL West with a 19-22 record.

Some more injury scenarios to keep an eye on…

  • Brewers outfielder Hunter Renfroe exited yesterday’s game due to hamstring discomfort after scoring from first base on a double and is headed for an MRI to determine the extent of any damage he may have suffered, tweets MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Acquired in the offseason trade that saw the Brewers dump Jackie Bradley Jr.’s contract on the Red Sox — Milwaukee also sent a pair of prospects to Boston in the deal — Renfroe is out to a solid .266/.303/.503 start this season. His nine homers place him in a three-way tie for the team lead alongside Rowdy Tellez and Willy Adames. However, like Renfroe, Adames is currently sidelined; the Brewers placed him on the 10-day injured list last week, owing to a high ankle sprain. If Renfroe is to join Adames on the injured list, that’ll mean 29% of the Brewers’ home runs are sitting out at a time when the team has generally been struggling to score runs. Milwaukee ranks seventh in the Majors with 195 runs (4.6 per game), but they’re averaging just 3.5 runs per contest over their past 10 games.
  • Right-hander Lance Lynn has yet to make his 2022 debut with the White Sox after undergoing spring knee surgery, but he’ll throw to live hitters for the second time in his rehab process today, as noted by MLB.com’s Betelhem Ashame. Lynn, who also faced hitters this past Friday, inked a two-year, $38MM extension with the Sox last summer just prior to the trade deadline. The 35-year-old Lynn had a career year with the South Siders in 2021, pitching to a 2.69 ERA in 157 innings over the life of 28 starts, and he’s posted a terrific 3.26 ERA in 449 1/3 frames dating back to 2020.

White Sox Transfer Lance Lynn To 60-Day IL, Activate Lucas Giolito

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The White Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve reinstated righty Lucas Giolito from the Covid-related injured list and opened a spot on the 40-man by transferring righty Lance Lynn to the 60-day injured list. It’s a procedural move that doesn’t impact Lynn’s timetable; he’s eligible to be activated on June 6, as the “60-day” minimum window is retroactive to his original IL placement — not today’s transfer.

Giolito was placed on the Covid list just last week but will return in a matter of days. The brief stint on the IL pushed back his start by a few days, as he’ll be taking the hill for the first time since May 10 when he does so in a few hours against the Royals. Giolito also missed 12 days earlier this season due to an abdominal strain, but he’s been characteristically excellent when on the active roster. In five starts (26 2/3 innings), he’s pitched to a 2.70 ERA with a 35.2% strikeout rate and an 8.6% walk rate. Dating back to his 2019 breakout campaign, Giolito has been Chicago’s most consistent starter, turning in 454 1/3 frames of 3.43 ERA ball and thrice receiving down-ballot Cy Young votes.

Lynn, 35, left his final Spring Training start with knee discomfort, and subsequent evaluations revealed a torn tendon that required surgical repair. He’s yet to embark on a minor league rehab assignment and isn’t even slated to face live hitters for the first time until Friday, so he wasn’t likely to return prior to June 6 anyhow. Assuming all goes well with his live batting practice session and his handful of minor league rehab outings, an early or mid-June return seems realistic.

The Sox inked Lynn to a two-year, $38MM extension with a third-year club option last July. He’d been set to reach the open market following the 2021 campaign and likely would’ve been positioned as one of the market’s top veteran arms, but he opted for the security of a new multi-year deal with a win-now club that’s just a few hours from his hometown in Indiana. Over the past three seasons, Lynn carries a 3.26 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate and a 6.9% walk rate in 449 1/3 frames.

With Giolito now back and Lynn perhaps not terribly far behind, the White Sox’ rotation is approaching full strength for the first time this season. They’ll have some decisions to make, barring further injuries, as Giolito and Lynn will join a starting mix that also includes Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, Dallas Keuchel, Vince Velasquez and Johnny Cueto, who blanked Kansas City over seven frames in an outstanding ChiSox debut this week. Of that group, Keuchel and Velasquez have struggled considerably, though Keuchel’s $18MM salary may earn him some additional leash. Kopech, meanwhile, could have his innings carefully monitored as he embarks on his first full season as a big league starter.

Lance Lynn To Undergo Knee Surgery, Will Be Shut Down For Four Weeks

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White Sox ace Lance Lynn will undergo surgery this week to repair a small tear in his right knee tendon, Sox GM Rick Hahn told reporters (including MLB.com’s Scott Merkin).  Lynn will be sidelined for approximately four weeks before he can throw off a mound again, so the right-hander might not be back until roughly late May, given the recovery period and then a ramp-up period.

The injury seemingly took place last night, when Lynn was in visible pain after throwing a pitch during his final Cactus League start.  Lynn immediately left the game and was moving gingerly on his right leg.

There’s no easy way to replace a pitcher of Lynn’s caliber, though the White Sox have Reynaldo Lopez and Vince Velasquez as swingmen in their bullpen, plus Jimmy Lambert and non-roster invite Wes Benjamin in the minors.  For now, it seems like Velasquez or Lopez will join Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, Dylan Cease, and Michael Kopech in Chicago’s rotation.

Given Keuchel’s struggles last season and Kopech’s lack of starting experience, there were already question marks about the amount of starting pitching depth the White Sox had on hand even prior to Lynn’s injury.  The Sox focused much of their offseason shopping on upgrading the bullpen as a way of improving the pitching staff overall, yet even the relief corps has been shortened in recent days, as Craig Kimbrel was traded to the Dodgers and Garrett Crochet (also a potential candidate to move into the rotation at some point this year) was lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery.  Carlos Rodon was a big part of the White Sox staff last season, of course, but the southpaw left in free agency to sign with the Giants.

With this in mind, Hahn told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers and other media that “we may need to add at some point” from outside the organization.  More will be known once Lynn’s timeline becomes a bit clearer, though Hahn is optimistic that Lynn will be fully recovered when he does return to action.  Hahn said that Lynn’s injury was similar to Yasmani Grandal’s tendon tear in his left knee, which cost the catcher close to two months of the 2021 season before he was able to get back into the field.

Lynn posted a 2.69 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate, and 7.0% walk rate over 157 innings last season, his first in Chicago after the White Sox acquired him in an offseason trade from the Rangers.  Lynn finished third in AL Cy Young voting, marking the third consecutive year that the veteran righty has finished in the top six of Cy Young balloting.

Lance Lynn Leaves Game With Right Knee Discomfort

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White Sox starter Lance Lynn left his final Spring Training start with what the team announced as right knee discomfort.  During the fourth inning, Lynn looked to be in obvious pain after throwing a pitch, gingerly moving with a slight limp as he walked back to the dugout.

More will be known about Lynn’s status after he receives treatment and testing, though the issue could very well be related to the right knee injury that sidelined Lynn late last season.  Lynn only spent the 10-day minimum on the injured list, but White Sox GM Rick Hahn said in November that Lynn underwent 3-4 weeks of rehab on his right knee once the season was over.

At first glance, it certainly looks as though Lynn’s readiness for the Opening Day roster could be in jeopardy.  Losing Lynn for any amount of time would be a notable blow to Chicago’s rotation, particularly since the pitching staff as a whole already lost Garrett Crochet (to Tommy John surgery) and Craig Kimbrel (in a trade to the Dodgers) within the last 48 hours.

Swingmen Reynaldo Lopez and Vince Velasquez were involved in the bullpen picture, though at least one of the two hurlers will likely step into the rotation if Lynn’s injury requires an IL trip.  Velasquez was signed to a one-year, $3MM deal in March to provide some added pitching depth, though surely the White Sox weren’t planning on having to utilize this depth quite so soon.

Lynn has finished in the top six of AL Cy Young voting in each of the past three seasons, and his third-place finish in 2021 was his highest placement yet.  The right-hander’s first year in Chicago saw him post a 2.69 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate, and 7.0% walk rate over 157 innings.  2021 was the last season of the three-year, $30MM deal Lynn signed with the Rangers during the 2018-19 offseason, but the White Sox moved to sign Lynn to a contract extension last July.  Lynn is now set to receive $38MM in guaranteed money in 2022-23, and the Sox hold an $18MM club option his services for 2024.

White Sox GM Rick Hahn On Kimbrel, Rodon, Kopech

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The White Sox enter the offseason coming off their first division title in thirteen years. General manager Rick Hahn has met with the media a few times in recent days to discuss a couple key early offseason decisions and provide updates on a few players already under team control.

First and foremost, Hahn addressed a pair of decisions Chicago has already made: exercising a $16MM club option on reliever Craig Kimbrel and declining to issue an $18.4MM qualifying offer to starter Carlos Rodón. Last month, Bob Nightengale of USA Today suggested the Sox could look to deal Kimbrel after exercising the option, and Hahn acknowledged that as a possibility.

“We view him as a potentially impactful reliever, as he’s been for the vast majority of his career,” Hahn said of Kimbrel (via Jesse Rogers of ESPN). “What we have to figure out is if it makes the most sense to have Craig in a White Sox uniform going forward or is there a better use of that spot and him perhaps via trade?”

Kimbrel’s one of trickier players around the league to value. As Hahn noted, the righty has been one of the best relievers in recent history over the course of his career. He’s an eight-time All-Star who posted an absurd 0.49 ERA with a 46.7% strikeout rate in 36 2/3 innings for the Cubs last season. But Kimbrel struggled badly with the North Siders from 2019-20, and he was tagged for a 5.09 ERA (albeit with a still-excellent 36.7% strikeout percentage) in 23 frames after being traded to the South Side at the deadline. There’ll certainly be plenty of teams intrigued by the possibility of Kimbrel as a late-game stopper, but clubs will have to weigh his upside against his recent run of inconsistency and fairly high price tag in 2022.

On Rodón, Hahn told reporters (including Scott Merkin of MLB.com) the team remained open to his return. “(The qualifying offer) was not offered to him. It doesn’t mean we aren’t interested in bringing him back,” Hahn said. “We have not ruled out him returning.” Nightengale previously reported the Sox didn’t intend to make a great effort to bringing the southpaw back, though, and it seems likely Rodón and his representatives at the Boras Corporation will be able to top the $18.4MM QO value — which Chicago was unwilling to risk, at least this early in the offseason — on the open market.

One could make the case the Sox already have an in-house option to step into Rodón’s rotation spot in Michael Kopech. The flamethrowing righty missed all of 2019-20 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and opting out of the 2020 campaign due to concerns about COVID-19. Chicago used him as a multi-inning relief weapon this past season to keep his workload in check, but Hahn told reporters (including James Fegan of the Athletic) last week the club is committed to stretching Kopech out as a starter in 2022.

The 25-year-old Kopech worked 69 1/3 innings in 2021, posting a 3.50 ERA with a huge 36.1% strikeout percentage and a fine 8.4% walk rate. There’s some risk in taking him out of a bullpen role to which he acclimated so well, but public scouting reports have long suggested Kopech could have top-of-the-rotation upside if given the opportunity. The White Sox are set to explore that possibility, although Hahn cautioned that Kopech may not be ready to take on an ace-caliber workload from Day One.

“I’m going to probably be sitting in this chair some point next summer explaining why we are doing something with Michael in terms of giving him a break in order to keep him strong over the course of that season,” Hahn said (via Fegan). “It’s the innings base and what can we reasonably tack onto him over the course of ideally seven months next year. We are going to have to be diligent in our monitoring of him over the course of the offseason as well as he goes through spring training, and over the course of the regular season in terms of how the ball looks coming out of his hand, what his mechanics look like, what the data is telling us, how Michael is reporting how he feels.”

Hahn also provided updates on a pair of injured players last week. Lance Lynn will spend the next 3-4 weeks resting and rehabbing a right knee issue that sent him to the injured list in late August (via Mark Gonzales). Outfielder Adam Engel, meanwhile, recently underwent surgery to address a left shoulder injury that landed him on the shelf in August as well (according to Maddie Lee of NBC Sports Chicago). That procedure is not expected to affect Engel’s readiness for the start of next season.

White Sox Place Lance Lynn On Injured List

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The White Sox announced they’ve placed star right-hander Lance Lynn on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 29, due to right knee inflammation. Infielder Danny Mendick has been recalled from Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move.

Lynn has consistently been an above-average starter over the past few seasons, but he’s taken his game to new heights in 2021. The veteran has gone 135 2/3 innings across 24 starts, pitching to a 2.59 ERA/3.79 SIERA with quality strikeout and walk rates (27.3% and 7.5%, respectively). He’s ninth in MLB in ERA (minimum 100 innings pitched) and looks to be among the top candidates in the American League Cy Young award race.

It doesn’t seem there’s much cause for alarm, as manager Tony La Russa told reporters (including Daryl von Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times) the expectation is that Lynn will only need to miss a single start. Assuming that proves to be the case, the Sox’s fortunes shouldn’t be much affected by his absence. Chicago has all but officially wrapped up the AL Central, entering play tonight holding a ten-game lead over the Indians.

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