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White Sox Notes: Robert, Grandal, Bummer, Bullpen

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The White Sox placed center fielder Luis Robert on the 10-day injured list due to blurred vision before tonight’s contest with the Guardians. The placement is backdated to July 19, meaning he’ll first be eligible to return a week from now. He’s been dealing with lightheadedness for the past week, and the team will give him a bit more time to work through the issue.

It doesn’t seem to be a huge concern, as general manager Rick Hahn told reporters (including Vinnie Duber of CHGO Sports) the team was hopeful he could return after a week. Even if he’s back when first eligible, Chicago will have to go a couple pivotal series without arguably their top position player. Robert is hitting .301/.334/.461 with 12 home runs and 11 stolen bases across 323 plate appearances.

In a corresponding move, the Sox reinstated backstop Yasmani Grandal from the IL. Lower back spasms cost the switch-hitting catcher around five weeks. Now that he’s back to health, Grandal will try to get on track after struggling through arguably his worst couple months as a major leaguer. He carries just a .185/.294/.237 line through 201 plate appearances, a shocking downturn for a player who hit .240/.420/.520 last season.

In other injury news, reliever Aaron Bummer told reporters this afternoon he remains about three weeks from getting back onto a mound (via James Fegan of the Athletic). Bummer, who has been out since the second week of June due to a lat strain, is hoping to return to the major league club at some point in early September. That makes it a virtual lock he’ll be transferred to the 60-day injured list whenever Chicago needs a 40-man roster spot, and his still faraway return timeline will play a role in the team’s deadline approach.

Hahn told reporters that, in light of Bummer’s injury, relief pitching is “probably the most obvious need” for his club (via Jesse Rogers of ESPN). The Sox have invested heavily in the bullpen in recent seasons, signing Liam Hendriks, Kendall Graveman and Joe Kelly to multi-year free agent deals (in addition to a lengthy contract extension for Bummer). They’ve nevertheless been a middle-of-the-pack group this year, checking in 17th in ERA (3.90) and 13th in strikeout/walk rate differential (14.9 percentage points). That’s partially due to injury, as Bummer, Hendriks and Kelly have all spent time on the injured list.

Chicago has gotten strong work from both Hendriks and Graveman, as well as former starter Reynaldo López. Along with Kelly, that’s a formidable group of right-handers, but the Sox are down to Tanner Banks as their top southpaw with Bummer on the shelf. Banks has a respectable 3.05 ERA through 38 1/3 innings, but he’s only generating swinging strikes at an 8.4% clip and has a subpar 20.9% strikeout rate.

A southpaw feels like a logical target for Hahn and his staff over the next week and a half. The division-rival Tigers could market Andrew Chafin, who’s likely to decline his player option and hit free agency at the end of the season. Detroit also has hard-throwing Gregory Soto, but he’s controllable through 2025, so the Tigers probably aren’t keen on dealing him to a division rival. Other left-handed relief trade candidates include Joe Mantiply (D-Backs), Steven Okert and Richard Bleier (Marlins) and Matt Moore (Rangers). The Angels Aaron Loup could also draw some interest, although he’s playing on a $7.5MM salary in both this season and next, as well as having a $2MM buyout on a 2024 club option. That could make him a tough fit for a Chicago team running a franchise-record payroll even if the Halos were willing to move him.

White Sox To Activate Eloy Jimenez In Coming Days

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The White Sox have been without Eloy Jiménez for two and a half months, as the slugging outfielder tore a tendon in his right hamstring on April 23. He’ll soon return to the lineup, however, as various reporters (including Jesse Rogers of ESPN) noted that he’s reported to the major league team after wrapping up a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte yesterday. Jiménez won’t be active for tonight’s game against the Twins, but manager Tony La Russa said he’ll be reinstated within the next few days — perhaps as soon as tomorrow (via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).

Jiménez’s impending return should be a boon for a lineup that has underwhelmed this season. The defending AL Central winners entered the year with one of the league’s more imposing rosters, but they carry a 38-40 record into play Tuesday night. Offensive struggles have been a key reason, as Chicago hitters carry a .254/.309/.377 line as a unit. They’re 19th in MLB in on-base percentage and 23rd in slugging output, while their 98 wRC+ indicates they’ve been two percentage points worse than a league average offense. That places them 20th leaguewide.

Left field has been one of a handful of problem areas, as the Sox have received a meager .250/.292/.387 showing out of the position. Jiménez contributed to that somewhat with a rough 11 games to start the season, but the bigger factor has been a down year from Spring Training acquisition AJ Pollock. The veteran outfielder did have a decent June after a dismal first two months of his White Sox’s tenure, and Jiménez’s activation should afford Chicago the freedom to plug Pollock into right field regularly as they’d intended to open the season.

Gavin Sheets has seen the bulk of the right field playing time of late. The left-hander has hit .227/.296/.372, production that has been superior to Pollock’s but still below-average. He’s also rated poorly in the eyes of public defensive metrics, not surprising given that he’s spent the vast majority of his professional career playing first base.

Jiménez has missed notable chunks of each of the past two seasons. He was limited to 55 games last year after rupturing his pectoral tendon during Spring Training. That delayed his debut until late July, and he had a fairly disappointing .249/.303/.437 showing during the year’s final couple months. The 25-year-old showed the potential to be a middle-of-the-order presence over his first two big league seasons, though, combining for a .276/.321/.527 showing with 45 homers in 175 games from 2019-20.

Activating Jiménez will require a 40-man move, as Chicago’s roster is currently full. That’s largely a formality, since infielder Danny Mendick will be transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list after suffering a season-ending ACL tear last month.

Chicago also seems set to welcome back another injured regular in the relatively near future. Yasmani Grandal told reporters (including James Fegan of the Athletic) that he’s joining Double-A Birmingham tomorrow to start a rehab stint. Out since June 12 due to back spasms, Grandal will ease back into game action as a designated hitter before getting behind the plate. The veteran backstop suggested he’s hoping to return shortly after the All-Star Break, where he’ll look to rebound from a rough .185/.294/.237 showing through the season’s first couple months.

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.

Injury Notes: Grandal, Muncy, McCullers

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Yasmani Grandal recently underwent knee surgery, as the catcher himself relayed on Instagram, and passed along by The Athletic’s James Fegan. Fegan also says the club expects him to be ready to go for spring training.

Grandal spent almost two months on the IL this year due to a torn tendon in his knee, although it didn’t seem to hamper him at the plate at all. In 93 games, he hit .240/.420/.520, for a wRC+ of 159, easily the highest of his career. His defensive numbers trended downward in 2021, though that’s not terribly surprising given how important healthy knees are for a catcher. The switch-hitter is guaranteed $36.5MM over the next two years, making his recovery from this procedure incredibly important for the White Sox as they look to build on back-to-back postseason appearances.

More injury notes…

  • Max Muncy brought out the lineup card for tonight’s NLCS game four matchup against Atlanta and didn’t appear to be wearing a brace on his injured left elbow, according to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. This would seem to indicate at least some superficial progress, given that Muncy was using the brace even while sleeping as recently as three days ago. The narrative around Muncy’s return figures to continue for as long as the Dodgers’ season is still alive. He hit 36 home runs this year, a personal best, on his way to slashing .249/.368/.527. His wRC+ of 140 on the campaign placed him in the top 15 among qualified hitters in all of baseball. He has missed the entirety of the playoffs so far after being injured in a collision with Jace Peterson on the final day of the regular season.
  • Similar to Muncy, the status of Lance McCullers Jr. figures to be an ongoing question as long as the Astros are still playing. The latest update comes from MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who says McCullers is “seen as not likely” to pitch in the World Series, should the Astros qualify. Since this bout of elbow tightness put the righty on the shelf, the Astros’ rotation has been shaky in his absence. Through the first four games of the ALCS, no Houston starter lasted longer than 2 2/3 innings. However, game five saw Framber Valdez turn that ship around by throwing eight innings of one-run ball. McCullers threw 162 1/3 excellent innings this year, with an ERA of 3.16, 27% strikeout rate and 56.4% ground ball rate. He then threw 10 2/3 innings in the ALDS with an ERA of 0.84 before landing on the shelf.

AL Central Notes: Grandal, Keller, Twins

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The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve reinstated catcher Yasmani Grandal from the 10-day injured list and optioned fellow backstop Zack Collins to Triple-A Charlotte. Grandal missed nearly two months following surgery to repair a tendon tear in his left knee, during which time Chicago leaned on Collins and Seby Zavala to shoulder the workload behind the dish. It’s been an odd season for Grandal, who has walked at an astonishing 24.4 percent pace through 246 trips to the plate and matched his career-high in isolated power (slugging percentage minus batting average). But Grandal is also batting just .188, thanks in large part to a .189 average on balls in play. The end result is a nonconventional .188/.388/.436 batting line that still translates to a 134 wRC+ because of that enormous on-base percentage and Grandal’s considerable power. Notably, Grandal’s 26 percent strikeout rate isn’t a huge increase over his 24 percent career mark, and he’s sporting career-highs in hard-hit rate and exit velocity (by a wide margin). There’s good reason to think the batting average and overall batting line can tick upward — provided he’s back to full strength.

More from the AL Central…

  • Royals righty Brad Keller exited last night’s start early and is being evaluated for what the club describes as “posterior right shoulder discomfort,” writes Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The right-hander said after the game that his shoulder felt “tight” and “sore.” The 26-year-old Keller has had a rough year overall but looked to be on the right track after a disastrous three-month run to begin the year. Keller pitched to a 6.67 ERA through the end of June, but in his past nine starts he’s worked to a 3.42 ERA (4.37 SIERA) with greatly improved strikeout and walk rates. A former Rule 5 pick out of the D-backs organization, Keller has emerged as a mainstay in the Kansas City rotation, pitching to a 3.50 ERA in 360 1/3 innings from 2018-20. This year’s struggles have weighed down his numbers, but he still possesses a solid 4.01 ERA in 494 innings since the Royals gave him his first big league opportunity. He’s never been on the injured list outside of a two-week absence last summer due to a positive Covid-19 test.
  • Twins fans could get a look at some of the organization’s top prospects next month. Rosters can’t expand to the extent that they once did — only to 28 players — but manager Rocco Baldelli said this week in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that the club will likely take a look at some promising youngsters when rosters expand (Twitter link, with audio). “I do think we could get a look at a few of these guys,” Baldelli said, though he declined to provide specific names. “I think there’s value in experience. … Calling guys up in September, giving them a little bit of that, I think helps.” Baldelli specifically pointed to the pitching staff, noting that there will be “some innings available” to the club’s upper-level pitchers. Speculatively speaking, that would seem to bode well for prospects such as Jordan Balazovic and Joe Ryan — the former a consensus top-100 arm and the latter a key arm acquired in the Nelson Cruz trade. Minnesota has given a few rookies some opportunities in the starting rotation this year — Griffin Jax and Charlie Barnes among them — but they’ve yet to promote any of their top-ranked prospects on the pitching side of things (in part due to injuries).

White Sox Place Carlos Rodon On 10-Day Injured List

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The White Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve placed lefty Carlos Rodon on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Aug. 8, due to left shoulder fatigue. Right-hander Matt Foster is up from Triple-A Charlotte to take his spot on the active roster. Chicago also announced that catcher Yasmani Grandal, who’s been out since early July after undergoing surgery to repair a torn tendon in his knee, will begin a minor league rehab assignment with Double-A Birmingham.

Rodon, 28, had been lined up to start tomorrow’s Field of Dreams game against the Yankees, but that start will now instead go to righty Lance Lynn. The South Siders haven’t provided a firm timeline for Rodon’s recovery, but manager Tony La Russa tells reporters he expects it to be longer than a minimum stint on the IL (Twitter link via ESPN 1000’s Connor McKnight). Notably, Rodon has a history of shoulder troubles. He underwent shoulder surgery back in 2017 and missed most of the 2020 campaign with shoulder pain as well.

The ChiSox have had the American League Central more or less wrapped up for quite some time now, so there’s little sense in rushing Rodon back. His absence won’t seriously hinder the team’s commanding 10.5-game lead in the Central, and the team’s focus is surely on making sure he’s at full strength to close out the regular season and play a pivotal role in the postseason rotation.

Rodon serving as a key to the Sox’ postseason starting staff would’ve seemed far-fetched, to say the least, not long ago. The White Sox non-tendered Rodon last December after a pair of injury-ruined seasons in 2019-20 that saw Rodon combine for a grisly 5.74 ERA in 42 1/3 frames.

That non-tender looked to end Rodon’s time with the Sox, but just shy of two months later, he returned on a one-year, $3MM deal. It wasn’t the most well-received signing in recent memory among White Sox fans, but Rodon has proved any naysayers wrong by not only rebounding to previous levels but instead rising to new heights entirely, as recently explored by MLBTR’s Anthony Franco.

The 2021 version of Rodon has been the overpowering ace that the Sox perhaps hoped he’d eventually become when selecting him with the No. 3 overall draft pick back in 2014. Through 19 starts this season, Rodon has pitched 109 2/3 innings of 2.38 ERA ball while fanning an outstanding 36.2 percent of his opponents against a very tidy 6.8 percent walk rate. He’s bumped his average fastball velocity to a career-high 95.8 mph, fanned 10 or more hitters on five occasions and thrown a no-hitter that was very nearly a perfect game.

Along the way, Rodon has cemented himself as one of the team’s frontline starters, joining the aforementioned Lynn among the league’s more dominant hurlers. Rodon’s ERA is sixth-best among pitchers with at least 100 innings thrown — Lynn leads the way at 2.04 — and no pitcher in baseball has whiffed a higher percentage of his opponents (again, min. 100 innings pitched).

The injury shouldn’t impact the White Sox’ chances of reaching the postseason. However, Rodon himself would be best-served with a quick return to full strength, as he’s set to return to the free-agent market this winter. The dominance he’s shown to date should already position him for a hefty multi-year contract, but a lengthy absence may give teams some pause — particularly given the deep free-agent class and the number of alternative options on the market. He’ll already be viewed much differently than when the Sox cut him loose back in December, but a quick return and healthy finish would make for an even more bullish outlook.

AL Injury Notes: Robert, Grandal, Rogers, Archer

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Luis Robert is expected to rejoin the White Sox this week, per Jared Wyllys of The Chicago Sun-Times. The outfielder has been out since early May after suffering a Grade 3 strain of his right hip flexor tendon. Rehabbing players can spend 20 days in the minors on rehab assignments. Since Robert’s first game of his rehab was July 21st, the 20 days will have elapsed tomorrow, August 9th. [UPDATE: Robert will be activated before tomorrow’s game, Tony La Russa told The Athletic’s James Fegan and other reporters.]

Given Robert’s immense talent, this is tremendous news for the club. But it’s also going to create some tough decisions. “We’re going to get squeezed. We’ve had some guys earn a lot of at-bats who don’t want to give them up, so we’ll see what happens,” Wyllys quotes manager Tony La Russa as saying. In the absence of Robert, and the recently-returned Eloy Jimenez, the White Sox have had some players step up and hold the outfield together. Brian Goodwin, signed to a minor league contract in May, has been given 165 plate appearances and responded by putting up a wRC+ of 119. Gavin Sheets has a wRC+ of 111 across 99 plate appearances. But before going on the IL, Robert was a notch above both, with a wRC+ of 128 in 103 plate appearances. And the White Sox obviously consider Robert a cornerstone of their club, given the big extension they gave him before the 2020 season. Between Robert, Jimenez, Goodwin, Sheets and Adam Engel, the team will be spoiled for choices in the outfield, as they are sitting comfortably atop the AL Central 10 1/2 games ahead of Cleveland.

More from the Junior Circuit…

  • La Russa also provides an update on Yasmani Grandal, who is doing on-field drills but isn’t quite ready for a rehab assignment. “There’s been some discussion, but I think it’s still a guestimate,” La Russa said. “The big thing, he’s improving, and he’s getting better.” Grandal has always had a profile that included low batting averages, overcome by high walk rates and power. But he took that model to new extremes in 2021 before tearing a tendon in his knee in July, as evidenced by his incredible slash line of .188/.388/.426, producing a wRC+ of 135. Seby Zavala has done well in his stead, slashing .238/.333/.500, though in a small sample of just 50 plate appearances.
  • Chris McCosky of The Detroit News gets an update on Jake Rogers from Tigers manager AJ Hinch. “He’s not quite ready to throw yet,” Hinch said. “We won’t see him in the month of August. September at the earliest. We just hope there are no setbacks at this point. If we do anything that causes a setback between now and September, then we’re talking about missing the rest of the year. So we’re trying to be super cautious with his step by step progress.” Before hurting his throwing arm in July, the 26-year-old catcher was enjoying a breakout season, slashing .239/.306/.496, with a wRC+ of 116. With Rogers out, Eric Haase has taken over with aplomb, producing an even better line of .247/.297/.532, for a wRC+ of 122.
  • Chris Archer could potentially resume his rehab assignment this week, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The righty was removed from a rehab start a week ago with hip soreness. It seems to have only been a minor setback, with Archer getting back on the mound this week. As of last week, Archer was scheduled to throw 75 pitches, on his way to building up for a starter’s workload. But he was removed after 31 pitches because of the hip issue. Tampa surprisingly subtracted from its rotation at the trade deadline, sending Rich Hill to the Mets, seemingly confident enough in the emergence of younger options such as Luis Patino, Shane McClanahan and Josh Fleming. Archer has an excellent track record but is a few years removed from meaningful contributions on the hill, due to various injuries. Since 2019, he’s thrown 124 innings, with an ERA of 5.23.

Yasmani Grandal Undergoes Knee Tendon Surgery

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JULY 7: Grandal underwent knee surgery to fix his torn tendon, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (Twitter link).  In an official statement from the White Sox, the team stated that surgery was required for Grandal after further examination by doctors.  Grandal is still expected to play again in 2021, though the club’s statement mentioned that an “updated timeline” would come soon, so there could be some adjustment to the initial four-to-six week projection.

JULY 6: The White Sox announced they’ve placed catcher Yasmani Grandal on the 10-day injured list with a tendon tear in his left knee. He’s expected to miss four-to-six weeks. Fellow catcher Seby Zavala has been recalled from Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move.

Grandal has been nagged by left calf tightness in recent days, keeping him out of action over the weekend. He returned to the lineup last night but left early after hurting his knee on a check swing. Obviously, the new injury will lead to a significantly longer absence.

It’s another blow for the White Sox, who have also lost their presumptive starting left fielder (Eloy Jiménez), center fielder (Luis Robert) and second baseman (Nick Madrigal) for significant chunks of the season. Jiménez and Robert have been out for months after suffering injuries early in the year, while Madrigal was lost for the rest of the season after going down last month.

It’ll be tough for the Sox to replace Grandal’s production in the coming weeks. While the 32-year-old is only hitting .188, his power and incredible patience have made him a highly productive player. The switch-hitting backstop is reaching base at a fantastic .388 clip thanks to a league-best 24.4% walk rate. He’s popped 14 home runs (tied for third-most among catchers) en route to a decent .436 slugging percentage. Grandal has also earned a reputation as one of the game’s elite pitch framers in recent years, although Statcast suggests he’s only been average in that regard this season.

It now seems the Chicago catching situation will fall to the younger tandem of Zack Collins and Zavala. The recently-optioned Yermín Mercedes could also play his way into the mix, but the Sox were fairly reluctant to give him much time behind the dish when he was tearing the cover off the ball earlier in the year and have turned to Zavala before Mercedes in the immediate aftermath of Grandal’s injury. It’s possible they look to acquire a more experienced backstop from outside the organization before the trade deadline, but Chicago’s six-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central could give them enough confidence to roll with their in-house options until Grandal returns.

Yasmani Grandal Day-To-Day With Calf Tightness

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10:05PM: Grandal is day-to-day with the injury, as manager Tony La Russa told The Athletic’s James Fegan (Twitter links) and other reporters that the Sox will monitor Grandal’s condition to determine if an IL placement is eventually necessary, or if another roster move is necessary to get another catcher on the roster.  For now, the plan seems to be for Collins to start tomorrow’s game and Danny Mendick to act as the emergency catcher.  Zavala left tonight’s Triple-A game, so he is likely to at least be added to Chicago’s taxi squad.

8:49PM: White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal left tonight’s game due to left calf tightness, the team announced.  It isn’t yet clear when the calf issue surfaced for Grandal, as was replaced behind the plate by Zack Collins prior to the bottom of the fifth inning, more than two innings as Grandal’s last at-bat (he struck out to end the top of the third).

Between that strikeout and a single in his first plate appearance, Grandal’s slash line now sits .190/.388/.441 through 243 plate appearances.  Despite the lack of batting average, Grandal still has a 135 wRC+ due to his power (14 homers) and his exceptional on-base skills.  Grandal’s 59 walks ranks second among all players, as the Rangers’ Joey Gallo leads baseball with 63 free passes, though Gallo has the benefit of 80 more plate appearances than the Chicago catcher.

It isn’t yet known if Grandal will be placed on the injured list, though such a move would leave the White Sox without yet another key bat.  Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Adam Engel, and Jake Lamb are all on the IL, while Nick Madrigal has been lost for season after hamstring surgery.  Yoan Moncada also suffered a bruised hand while sliding into third base yesterday, and will miss at least Chicago’s current three-game series with the Tigers while recovering.

Collins figures to get the majority of starts at catcher if Grandal is sidelined, and Collins took an above-average 106 wRC+ (and .236/.333/.400 slash line in 127 PA) into tonight’s game with Detroit.  Yermin Mercedes has played two games at catcher this season, and Seby Zavala is also available at Triple-A.

Injury Notes: Grandal, Belt, Miller, Akiyama

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After suffering a twisted knee early in camp, Yasmani Grandal played in his first game of the spring today.  Grandal was in the White Sox lineup as a DH, and it isn’t yet known when he might return to his usual spot at catcher.  Grandal told reporters (including NBC Sports Chicago’s Vinnie Duber) that he is focused on his catching preparation, saying “right now, repetition behind the plate is probably No. 1.  I could (not) care less if I start off the season hitting or not.  I know the bat is going to come through at some point, and once that happens, then it’s a done deal.”

Given the length of time between now and Opening Day, it doesn’t seem like Grandal will require any sort of injured list trip to allow him another week to get fully ready.  With James McCann now signed with the Mets, Chicago’s backup catching options include the inexperienced Zack Collins and veteran Jonathan Lucroy (in camp on a minor league deal), and Grandal is expected to take more of the catching load in 2021.

More on some injury situations from around the league…

  • Brandon Belt’s readiness for the Giants’ opener is more of a question, as he got a late start on Spring Training and still hasn’t played in any games.  Belt told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) that he spent several weeks recovering first from a positive COVID-19 diagnosis and then a case of mono almost immediately afterwards.  Beyond these twin illnesses, Belt’s readiness for Opening Day was already a bit up in the air due to his heel surgery from last October.  While Belt is a major contributor to the Giants’ offense, the team at least has quite a bit of first base depth — Darin Ruf, Wilmer Flores, Austin Slater, Tommy La Stella, or even Buster Posey — to fill the gap until Belt is ready to play.
  • Brad Miller was a late scratch from today’s Phillies lineup after suffering a ribcage injury during a running drill.  Manager Joe Girardi told NBC Sports’ Jim Salisbury and other reporters that Miller suffered a “tweak” and will get further testing done to determine the extent of the injury.  There certainly appears to be some concern that Miller has hurt his oblique, which would require at least a few weeks out of action and an IL stint.  After initially playing for the Phillies in 2019, Miller spent last season with the Cardinals before signing a one-year, $3.5MM deal this winter to return to Philadelphia.  The 31-year Miller brings both multi-positional value and a solid bat (.247/.343/.510 with 20 home runs over 341 plate appearances in 2019-20) to the roster, making him a difficult player to replace for the Phils if indeed Miller does end up on the IL.
  • Reds outfielder Shogo Akiyama left tonight’s game with a tight left hamstring and will be re-evaluated tomorrow.  In his first MLB season, Akiyama hit .245/.357/.297 in 183 PA, though he hit significantly better in September and October once he became more adjusted to Major League pitching.  Between this improved bat and some solid glovework, Akiyama was being counted on for at least a big part-time role in Cincinnati’s outfield, though those plans could be altered should his hamstring injury prove serious.
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