White Sox general manager Rick Hahn spent a lot of time talking about injuries when he met with reporters before the White Sox played the Blue Jays. Of course, he did. Injuries have blazed a careening trail through the Sox’ roster, the latest casualty being Yoan Moncada, who was put on the injured list Monday for the second time this season.
The hamstring is the third physical issue Moncada has been hampered by this season. He strained his oblique on the last day of spring training and was out until May 9. A sore quad limited his time since then. Through all of it, Moncada has struggled to find his hitting stroke, batting .179/.230/.292.
Moncada joins a long list of Sox on the injured list: Right-handers Kyle Crick (right elbow inflammation), Liam Hendriks (strained right forearm) and left-handers Aaron Bummer (strained left lat) and Garrett Crochet (Tommy John surgery), catcher Yasmani Grandal (lower-back spasms) and outfielder Eloy Jimenez (tendon tear in right hamstring).
“A mild strain has the risk of turning into something more serious if we aren’t careful,” Hahn said, so it’s more time for Jake Burger at third base until Moncada is eligible to come back for a road trip in Anaheim and San Francisco next week.
“The way he can help us the most is to be healthy when he gets back, not play at less than his best,” Hahn said.
Hahn said the Sox rank 11th among teams hardest hit by injuries. What gives?
“The training has never been more sophisticated than it has been at this time in terms of our ability to monitor every movement a player makes during the game, much less the stuff we do in the gym and the continued monitoring of their range of motion, strength, flexibility, etc.,” Hahn said. “So we have more information than we ever had before. Does that mean that we are properly training them? When you have the amount of injuries you see in baseball right now, it’s something every team has to look at with a critical eye. More information is usually considered good, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re all doing the right practices.”
Kopech’s knee
Michael Kopech, who threw 75 pitches in five innings in a 4-3 loss Sunday to the Astros, is not on the IL but is dealing with a sore right knee that will be watched.
“He didn’t feel perfect with the knee yesterday,” Hahn said. “He still felt a little something there, which is understandable. Each time out, it’s going to become less and less, and he’s going to be able to ideally pitch through it without further incident.”
Mendick sits — for now
Danny Mendick got a rest with Tim Anderson back from the injured list and Josh Harrison, who hit a two-run home run against the Jays, playing second base.
But Mendick, who batted .277 with two homers and 11 RBI in 17 games since Anderson went on the injured list, might play second Tuesday, manager Tony La Russa said. He’ll also spell Anderson at short as Anderson paces himself coming off the IL.
“We’re all going to watch Tim carefully in the games, with the heat,” La Russa said. “Definitely not going to disregard what Danny did.”
Mendick is batting .272/.323/.435. Harrison was batting .208/.283/.300 through Sunday.
Eloy back at it
Jimenez, who was injured April 23, restarts his injury-rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday. He will ease into it as a designated hitter at the outset.
