I don't naturally consider sports outcomes in gambling terms, but if you told me that that Vegas set the over/under line for the White Sox's first soft-tissue injury of the 2023 season at 5½ games, I'd consider that cynical. But I also wouldn't bet against it.
Well, now that a left hamstring strain set Eloy Jiménez to the 10-day injured list, it turns out 5½ games is just as unfair as the "injury-prone" label Rick Hahn protested, which is to say it isn't.
The White Sox said that Jiménez will miss two to three weeks after tweaking his hamstring running the bases in the seventh inning of Monday's 12-3 loss to San Francisco. They called up Jake Burger to take his place as the right-handed component to the DH spot.
Watching a replay of the seventh inning, he reached on a walk, went from first to third on Andrew Vaughn's double, then scored on Yasmani Grandal's groundout to third. He wasn't exactly steaming into third, but he also got an early stop sign from Eddie Rodríguez.
The discomfort was more apparent on the final 90 feet.
Jiménez opened the season batting .211/.318/.316 over 22 plate appearances, so this injury doesn't exactly interrupt a hot streak. It's just a bigger blow to the idea of Jiménez, Yoán Moncada, Tim Anderson and Luis Robert Jr. playing more than 100 games together, especially since Jiménez hadn't even had a chance to play the outfield.
Speaking of which, Jiménez's absence will result in a lot of people picking up his responsibilities.
Jake Burger: He figures to assume plate appearances at DH against left-handed pitching, with the Sox hoping he can follow up on his .326/.388/.651 line over 49 plate appearances against lefties in 2022. At least Moncada has third base locked down for the time being (knocks on wood).
Gavin Sheets: He's only accrued five plate appearances over five games. Pedro Grifol played him at first base in the second game of the season in order to get him involved, but he's been limited to a pinch-hitting appearance since because there isn't a natural path to playing time when Jiménez and Andrew Vaughn are healthy. Since Jiménez isn't healthy now, Sheets is the obvious DH candidate against right-handed pitching, so we should be seeing plenty of him.
Romy González: His Opening Night start in right field suggested that Grifol considered him the fourth outfielder, even if Sheets and Jiménez have far more MLB experience. Now he's definitely the fourth outfielder when Sheets is DHing, unless Grifol wants to lose the DH during games.
Oscar Colás: Maybe you'll see González take Colás place in starting lineups against lefties, but this might also give Grifol some incentive to see how Grifol looks against same-sided pitching.
The White Sox face a righty today with San Francisco starting Logan Webb, so the Sox are lining them up thusly:
- Tim Anderson, SS
- Luis Robert Jr., CF
- Andrew Benintendi, LF
- Yoán Moncada, 3B
- Andrew Vaughn, 1B
- Gavin Sheets, DH
- Yasmani Grandal, C
- Oscar Colás, RF
- Elvis Andrus, 2B
You'll see a different lineup over the following two days, as the White Sox are expected to see consecutive lefties. Alex Wood is scheduled to take the finale for San Francisco, while Rich Hill is listed as Pittsburgh's probable pitcher for Friday.
