ALL HEALTH IS BREAKING LOOSE
Robert returns to lineup; Grandal to catch Thursday
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The thing that keeps White Sox general manager Rick Hahn on edge during the warm, sunny and sometimes breezy bliss that is spring training is a text message from trainer James Kruk.
“It’s a lousy way to go through life, but part of this gig is to be worried about what could go wrong,” Hahn said recently.
So far, Kruk has not been a bearer of bad texts. Aside from a tweaked calf that hardly affected right-hander Michael Kopech and a minor groin issue that slowed righty Matt Foster early in camp, the pitching staff appears to be healthy with Opening Day 15 days away.
Carlos Rodon, 22 months removed from Tommy John surgery and three years from shoulder surgery, feels strong and is throwing with increased confidence this spring after a turbulent and foreign bullpen experience in 2020. Rodon’s two scoreless Cactus League appearances aren’t much to go on, but striking out five batters, including Manny Machado, with no walks in five innings is enough to make the No. 5 slot in the rotation look better than it did in January.
“I thought it was very, very impressive,” manager Tony La Russa said Wednesday. “I know he’s excited, and now it’s about his next time out there. So far, so good.”
On the “what could go wrong” side of camp, however, a collection of injuries where the Sox don’t want them — smack dab up the middle of their defense — caused some angst. Catcher Yasmani Grandal wrenched his right knee early in camp and hasn’t started a Cactus League game behind the plate. Second baseman Nick Madrigal, starting camp slightly behind the rest after having offseason surgery on his left shoulder, played his first game March 8, then had to take seven days off because of a sore right thumb. Center fielder Luis Robert missed two days with a lower abdominal strain.
Those fearing the worst were relieved to see Robert back in the lineup against the Dodgers on Wednesday and to hear La Russa say that Grandal, limited to two games of designated-hitter duty and some B game atbats, will catch for the first time Thursday.
“[Thursday is] still a significant amount of time before Opening Day,” La Russa said. The Sox are getting closer to full strength. But the injuries, however small, point to
where the Sox, built to win and aiming high, are vulnerable: depth behind the first team. They will inevitably need to rely on the bench and call-ups during the season.
If there was a plus side to Grandal being out, it gave veteran Jonathan Lucroy and Zack Collins and Yermin Mercedes more game action as Hahn and La Russa evaluate a spring-training battle for the backup spot James McCann filled excellently last season.
There was no plus side to Madrigal, the No. 4 overall draft choice in 2018 who batted .340 with seven strikeouts in 109 plate appearances in his first season, being out. But he said the shoulder and thumb are good and expects to be ready, and La Russa, citing Madrigal’s short, compact swing, agreed.
“Yeah, definitely,” Madrigal said Tuesday. “We get tons of swings in cages. We have live at-bats if we need it in practice. I felt more comfortable even my last at-bat [Tuesday], even from the first at-bat. I don’t think it’s going to take much at all. I feel confident I’ll be ready for the regular season health-wise, timing-wise and baseball-wise. I’m not worried about it.”
Robert, the budding superstar, wasn’t worried about his issue and had very little to say about it other than it started “four or five days ago” and “I don’t know how that happened.” “I feel good,” he said.
That should curb Hahn’s worries. At least until tomorrow.
Two lousy weeks till Opening Day.