At a time when the White Sox can ill afford to lose infield depth, infielder/outfielder Leury García landed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a lower back strain. Infielder Romy González was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte to take Garcia’s spot on the roster and was in the starting lineup for the Sox’ game against the Astros Wednesday.
The Sox are without shortstop Tim Anderson, who had surgery on his finger last week and will be out approximately five weeks. Rookie Lenyn Sosa, batting .118/.143/.235 in 10 games, has filled in at shortstop along with Garcia, who has looked to be in some discomfort in recent games.
González, 25, is batting .198/.282/.339 (24-121) with five doubles, four home runs, 10 RBI, 15 runs scored and five stolen bases in 33 games with Charlotte. He has spent three separate stints on the Knights injured list.
González appeared in 10 games with the White Sox in 2021, hitting .250 with three doubles.
García is hitting .212/.238/.275 with three homers and eight doubles. He is the longest tenured Sox player.
The Sox could look outside the organization for experienced help at shortstop. Veteran Elvis Andrus was released by the Rangers Wednesday.
“I don’t think there’s a day that passes where upstairs is not looking at how to improve the club,” manager Tony La Russa said.
“It’s safe to say they’re always looking. We’ll see what happens.”
Robert still out
There were indications Tuesday that Luis Robert would return to the lineup Wednesday but Robert received an injection in his left wrist to calm down inflammation Tuesday and didn’t take batting practice.
“But the X-rays and everything, looks like it’s good for him to keep proceeding,” La Russa said. “There’s soreness. When he swings, fighting through the soreness is not going to set him back.”
La Russa said there is no reason for Robert to go on the 10-day IL.
“It’s a question of when he can swing normally and not hold back,” La Russa said. “There’s nothing damaged in there that you have to protect.”
Lambert climbing
Jimmy Lambert finds himself pitching in higher leverage situations of late, working in the eighth or ninth inning in five of his last six appearances. Fourteen of the righty’s last 15 outings have been of the scoreless variety. Lambert (2.97 ERA, 2.28 in relief) struck out all four batters he faced in a 5-3 win against the Tigers Sunday and two more in the eighth of a 4-3 win over Houston Tuesday, running his streak to six whiffs in a row.
“To get in there in a one-run game and deliver, there is no better feeling than helping the team win, that is for sure,” Lambert said.
This and that
Double-A Birmingham outfielder Oscar Colás is hitting .348/.431/.708 with 10 home runs and a 1.139 OPS in 23 games since being promoted from High-A Winston-Salem on July 12.
*Sunday’s game at Cleveland will be an exclusive streaming broadcast on Peacock. The game on Sept. 3 against Minnesota (6:15 p.m.) has been picked up by FOX for a full national broadcast (no NBCSCH telecast).
