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 are text messages 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 right-hander 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 over five innings is enough to make the No. 5 slot in the starting rotation look better than it did in January.
“I thought it was very, very impressive,” 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 yet. Second baseman Nick Madrigal, starting camp slightly behind the rest after having offseason left shoulder surgery, 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 Wednesday and hearing La Russa say Grandal, limited to two games of designated hitter duty and some B game at-bats, will catch for the first time Thursday.
“Tomorrow’s [Thursday], that’s still a significant amount of time before opening day,” La Russa said.
The Sox are getting closer to full strength.
The injuries, though 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 over 109 plate appearances his first season, being out. But he said the shoulder and thumb are both good and he 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 and timing 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 Wednesday other than it started “four or five days ago” and “I don’t know how that happened.”
“I feel good,” he said through translator Billy Russo.
Which should curb Hahn’s worries. At least until tomorrow.
Two lousy weeks till Opening Day.
