As expected, Jake Burger officially came off the White Sox’ injured list Sunday, batting seventh and serving as the designated hitter in the series finale against the Astros. Burger’s return adds options for manager Pedro Grifol and power to the Sox lineup, which he showed with his sixth-inning home run and single in the second.
“It was good after having 10 days off to get back in and contribute any way I can,” Burger said.
Aside from being a DH where he should get a bulk of his work with Eloy Jimenez out, Burger will play some first base and third when Yoan Moncada needs a day off. Even though Elvis Andrus is on the IL, one place Burger shouldn’t be expected is second base due to the limits on shifting and the additional demands on players in that position.
Grifol, however, didn’t quite rule it out.
“In recent years, you can do some of those things and still cover a significant amount of territory on that side of the field,” Grifol said. “But the game has changed. We haven’t discussed [it]. That doesn’t mean we won’t at some point, if we had to, but at this point, we haven’t discussed that.”
The same goes for using Moncada at second base, the position he played when he broke into the majors. There hasn’t been discussion of that move, but Grifol said “things can change quickly.”
In a move that corresponded to Burger’s return, the Sox optioned Carlos Perez to Triple-A Charlotte, which is a good indication that Yasmani Grandal (hamstring) will not need to be placed on the IL. Grandal didn’t start, but was available off the bench Sunday and is expected to be back in the lineup Tuesday.
Perez went 1 for 4 in three games after his May 7 recall.
What’s with Liam?
On Friday, Liam Hendriks told media in Charlotte that the tentative plan going forward is for him to pitch again Sunday for the Knights, followed by Tuesday or Wednesday before he and the Sox reassess his next steps.
But prior to the game with Houston, Grifol said something a little different, that Hendriks would pitch a “partial inning” to get an out or two and then see how he feels. Hendriks did that, throwing one-third of an inning and striking out the only batter he faced.
“We’ll talk to him after and see where we go from there,” Grifol said.
Pitch-clock blues
The Sox were dinged four times for pitch-clock violations by home plate umpire Stu Scheurwater. Tim Anderson and Reynaldo Lopez were each docked once, and Lucas Giolito was penalized twice.
“I wasn’t too happy about that,” Grifol said. “It didn’t really cost us, but it can. We [have to] clean that up.”
One of Giolito’s infractions came before the top of the fifth, when he didn’t throw his last warmup pitch before 30 seconds remained on the clock to begin the inning. Giolito said he wasn’t aware of that rule, and sounded like he wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
“Now I know I have to hurry up in the warmup pitches,” Giolito said.
Houston second baseman David Hensley also was disciplined once.
