Tim Anderson only missed two games, but his suspension lasted long enough that his return won't get the White Sox's regular-season body count out of the red.
Lucas Giolito departed Friday's game with left abdominal tightness, while AJ Pollock exited Saturday's game with hamstring tightness.
The initial read is that Giolito's injury is more severe than Pollock's, just because Giolito has conceded that he'll miss at least a couple starts, whereas Pollock assumed the role of a hamstring strain connoisseur while describing his situation:
“I know when it’s bad, and I know when it’s just something I’ve got to stay on top of, and take care of,” Pollock said. “Short term, I’m pretty confident it’s that.”
Pollock was set to miss the few games for paternity leave, so timing is on his side. It's only so much of a consolation prize when his body has such a rich history of not cooperating on standard medium-exertion baseball plays.
At least Anderson's return helps the White Sox in two ways. He's a direct replacement for Pollock at the top of the lineup, where Pollock maintained the standards by collecting four hits in two games. Positionally, he replaces Leury García, who went 0-for-8 with two strikeouts and an error in his starts at shortstop.
It'll just take a couple of days to see the benefits, because Tony La Russa is going with a Sunday lineup to get the rest of the bench bats their first looks of the season.
