The initial read on Eloy Jiménez's ankle injury are in, and while the prognosis still isn't bad as originally looked when he was writhing on the warning track, it will take him a fair amount of time to recover.
The White Sox placed Jiménez on the injured list with a high right ankle sprain, and said in the press release that he'll be reevaluated in two weeks, so I'm setting my initial expectations at a month. If you missed how Jiménez did it, it was on another awkward attempt to make a catch at the warning track Friday night.
Jiménez's body control is very much an issue, as evidenced by his attempts on flies he tried tracking down the weekend before. I'd started a Twitter thread of the perilous positions he ends up in, and while the speed of this next incident was a little stunning, the overall idea that Jiménez might hurt himself out there wasn't.
Along the same lines of surprising and not at all, Nate Jones is joining Jiménez on the injured list with right elbow inflammation. Jones has a long history of DL/IL trips and battled diminished velocity from the start of spring training, so it could be expected at one point. There were just no immediate signs of distress preceding this one. He made an appearance on Friday and looked normal, throwing two-thirds of an inning while allowing a walk, hit and strikeout. The hit was an infield single by Miguel Cabrera, which raised flags only because it was an infield single by Miguel Cabrera.
With Nicky Delmonico already on the roster and Manny Bañuelos officially in the bullpen, the White Sox used the opportunity to restore their bullpen to eight relievers by bringing Aaron Bummer and Thyago Vieira back in the fold. Bummer had a nice start to his season in Triple-A, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks over 7⅔ innings while striking out six. Vieira has been Vieira.
If there's one bit of good news, the White Sox promoted Joel Booker to Charlotte to occupy one of the vacated roster spots. He got off to a torrid start with the Barons, hitting .351/.400/.446 with eight steals in 10 attempts. The four-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio is a little concerning, but looking at the way the other Barons have hit, maybe the hardest jump is already behind him.
What we do know is that promoting Booker is the best way to make room for Luis Basabe in Birmingham. This move costs Omar Vizquel his best and only real speed threat, but that probably won't stop him from running his roster.
UPDATE: In a separate announcement, the White Sox placed Ryan Burr on the IL with A/C joint inflammation in his right shoulder. The club will make a corresponding move on Monday.
