White Sox outfielder Andrew Vaughn landed on the 10-day injured list Thursday after missing his fifth game in a row with a bruised right hand. Infielder Danny Mendick was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.
“The bruise is deep and it’s in an area where it’s a tough spot to handle it,” manager La Russa said Wednesday before saying Vaughn would probably go to the IL
The move is retroactive to Monday. Vaughn could come off next Thursday, in seven days.
Vaughn was hit by a pitch Friday by the Angels’ Mike Mayers. X-rays were negative, but “tons of inflammation” remained five days later, Vaughn said Wednesday.
“It’s kind of progressed, but it’s still aching when I swing, real bad,” Vaughn said. “Like it’s kind of blocking me from swinging because of the pain. I feel it all the time.”
The Sox are off Thursday. They play a weekend series in Boston against the Red Sox before returning home Monday to play the Guardians and Yankees next week.
Vaughn, 24, was leading the Sox with four homers and was one of their top hitters with a .283/.367/.566 hitting line and .933 OPS when he went down.
Moncada, Kelly close; Cueto, too?
Third baseman Yoan Moncada and right-handed reliever Joe Kelly should wrap up rehabilitation assignments with Triple-A Charlotte this weekend and could arrive for the homestand, which starts Monday against Cleveland.
Right-hander Johnny Cueto made what was likely his last start for Charlotte and could also join the team next week. Cueto needed 74 pitches to get through 3 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs and six hits, including a homer, and a walk while striking out three. Cueto has a 6.10 ERA over three starts.
Ouch
Third baseman Jake Burger, who has played a lot of third base in Moncada’s absence, felt sore one day after crashing into the side wall tracking a foul ball that was well out of his reach. He was not in the lineup Wednesday.
• Eloy Jimenez (hamstring) played catch and fielded soft fungoes from coach Daryl Boston. Jimenez is expected to be out another five to seven weeks.
Pitching hurts
Managers constantly juggle bullpen usage not only according to matchups and game situations but also how their relievers feel on a given day. Working more than two days in a row is usually off limits.
At times, pitchers are available only in a pinch even if they were off the previous day, which explains why La Russa handed righty Matt Foster the eighth inning of a 3-1 game Tuesday against the Cubs. It was the highest leveraged appearance for Foster, who has allowed one earned run in seven appearances over 11 innings.
Kendall Graveman wasn’t available, La Russa said.
“It’s common sense,” La Russa said. “It’s early. We have been pushing him, and it’s a long season. And we’ve got a deep bullpen.”
Closer Liam Hendriks said pitchers are always sore to some degree or another.
“We usually have this conversation in the bullpen, especially with the young guys,” Hendriks said. “When is the last time you’ve pitched without pain? Last year, I was talking to Craig [Kimbrel] and his was 2014, mine was right around 2014 as well. Can’t remember the last time we’ve thrown without something going on.”
