Outfielder Andrew Vaughn’s lingering soreness in his right hand continues to be a problem, and it’s not out of the question that it lands him on the injured list after all. A beam of light in a struggling lineup with a .283/.367/.566 hitting line, four homers and a .933 OPS, Vaughn hasn’t played since getting hit by a pitch Friday.
X-rays were negative, and a sigh of relief was heard, but Vaughn hasn’t come close to playing since.
He’s tentatively penciled into manager Tony La Russa’s lineup for Wednesday, when the White Sox play the second scheduled game of a two-game series against the Cubs, but if he can’t go, La Russa suggested he won’t go with the team for a three-game series in Boston.
“That’s a really good question,” La Russa said of a potential Vaughn appearance at Fenway Park. “A lot depends on how he looks [Wednesday] because if he’s not good tomorrow, it’s a day I plan to play him, then you count the number of days he hasn’t played.”
The maximum a 10-day IL stint can be backdated is three days.
“He’s sore, he’s getting better, but it’s the kind of thing where if he tries to swing sore, it might do something unnatural and make it sore,” La Russa said. “But I wouldn’t even pinch-hit him [Tuesday].
“You get whacked in that part, anywhere in that wrist and hand, and you know the ABCs of that. We’re just lucky nothing is broken.”
Robert sits one out
After playing four consecutive days since returning from a tweaked right groin, Luis Robert was held from the lineup. Playing him six days in a row to the day off Thursday was considered, but on a cold, damp night, it seemed to make sense. La Russa said Robert would be available late in the game.
“We debated it a lot; he’s starting to swing good,” La Russa said.
“The track is going to be a little thick out there and no regrets this way.”
La Russa joked that both of his arms were broken from being twisted by Robert, who wanted to play.
“Try to be sensible,” La Russa said. “He’s one of the guys that keys everything we do defensively and offensively. But it’s a long season.”
Baby, it’s cold outside
The Sox, who played in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Minneapolis during a frosty April, noticed a forecast in the 70s and mid-60s for their homestand against the Guardians and Yankees next week.
“It will be very welcome,” Gavin Sheets said.
“We’re excited for some good weather. A little sunshine will go a long way for us soon, hopefully.”
The Sox have scored four runs or more only four times and hit multiple home runs four times.
“In some sunshine, the ball will be flying a little better,” Sheets said.
They can only hope.
“We’ve seen it a lot,” Sheets said. “We hit some balls we thought we got that weren’t going anywhere. And when this weather warms up, the ball will start carrying for us, too.”
