Adam Engel did not test positive for the coronavirus but he may have been around someone who has. And with that, the White Sox’ fourth outfielder will spend time on the injured list until it’s safe for him to return to the team.
To fill Engel’s place on the roster, the Sox purchased the contract of outfield prospect Luis González from the Schaumburg training facility.
The person Engel was in contact with is not associated with Major League Baseball, general manager Rick Hahn said. Engel does not have symptoms.
“As a result he is being isolated and will return once futher testing is complete,” Hahn said.
Hahn said there is no concern Engel might have infected a teammate.
“Major-league baseball was obviously involved, as were our doctors,” Hahn said. “The experts have all determined there is fortunately no additional risk to anyone associated with the club at this time.”
A third-round Sox draft choice in 2017, González, 24, is a career .269/.344/.412 hitter with 25 home runs in 310 career games over three seasons in the minors. He has no major league experience.
Engel, a Gold Glove candidate in center field two seasons ago, was batting .263/.317/.500 with two home runs in 14 games.
Hahn hints at start for Dunning
Hahn hinted that prospect Dane Dunning might be brought up from Schaumburg to start Wednesday in the rotation spot vacated by Carlos Rodon (shoulder soreness). The Tigers are starting top prospect Casey Mize in what would be a matchup of major league debuts.
“I don’t like to announce roster moves in advance of when they happen, certainly not days in advance,” Hahn said. “I think that tempts the baseball gods too much to derail things, and they’ve been kind of cruel to us already this year. But I think we’ll probably have a pretty good pitching matchup going on here Wednesday night between some young guys. I know Detroit’s throwing Casey Mize, which will be fun to see. And we are certainly having conversations about one of our good young arms like Dane Dunning coming to make that start.”
Lopez and Rodon updates
Hahn said he remains optimistic that Reynaldo Lopez (shoulder), out since his first start, will return by the end of the month.
“Rodon [shoulder], he’s probably a half click behind Lopez, but he was here yesterday, threw a sideline, had a good outing with that. He is soon to enter his next stage of the throwing program, which will have him competing out at Schaumburg on a five-day schedule, too.”
Hahn said Rodon’s return “may drift into the first week of September depending on how the throwing program goes.”
No timetable for Bummer
Hahn said it was too soon for a timetable for the return of left-handed reliever Aaron Bummer (biceps), who is still in the “calming down and healing” phase of recovery.
“The good news is as a reliever, we don’t have to get him quite as stretched out as we would as a starter,” Hahn said.
