Tim Anderson exited the White Sox’ 7-3 loss to the Reds Sunday with cramping in his right hamstring and is day-to-day.
Seeing the shortstop and one of its MVP candidates grab the back of his leg and leave a game was an ominous-looking development for a team looking to clinch its first division title in 12 years, and perhaps more importantly entering next week’s first round of the playoffs, stay fully healthy.
That it was a cramp and nothing worse was something of a relief but will bear watching nonetheless. The Sox have seven games to play, starting with a four-game series in Cleveland beginning Monday.
“We’ll see how he’s doing on the flight from [Cincinnati] to [Cleveland] and see him in the afternoon [Monday],” manager Rick Renteria said. “If there’s any doubt we’ll take a cautious approach with how we use him. If I’m 100 percent sure he’s good he’ll be in there. If there’s any doubt we’ll make an adjustment.”
Anderson, who spent 10 days on the injured list in early August with a groin strain, grabbed the hamstring after he fouled off a pitch from Lucas Sims in the seventh inning. He tried talking Renteria and assistant trainer Josh Fallin into letting him finish his at-bat but Renteria pointed to the dugout.
“It was a cramp,” Renteria said. “It had loosened up, and we asked him to take a swing, he took it, then it spasmed again so it was best to get him out of there.”
Renteria said he didn’t think the hamstring was bad enough to require an MRI.
Chasing a second consecutive American League batting title, Anderson (0-for-3) saw his average drop to .360. The Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu also went 0-for-3 and leads the AL at .361. He homered twice in a 5-0 win over the Reds Saturday.
Crochet’s encore
Left-hander Garrett Crochet, who made an impressive debut into professional baseball with two strikeouts and a ground out against the Reds Friday, made a second scoreless appearance Sunday. Crochet, 21 and a few months removed from the University of Tennessee, touched 101 and allowed a single but did not record a strikeout.
“It‘s a pretty impressive arm and impressive in mound presence, impressive in composure, and obviously impressive with his stuff,” said Renteria of Crochet, who is pushing for a spot in the postseason bullpen.
“It’s been awesome to watch him, especially warming up,” rookie right-hander Matt Foster said. “You hear the ball hit the mitt, and it’s like a loud bang. You’re just like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s crazy.’”
Robert’s struggle
Luis Robert going 0-for-2 but walking twice without striking out was viewed as progress. That’s how rough it is now for the July/August AL Rookie of the Month, whose average is down to to .232. Robert is hitless in his last 18 at-bats and in a 6-for-60 swoon.
“[Hitting coaches Frank Menechino and Scott Coolbaugh are] trying to get him to stay to the opposite side of the field, stay in the middle of the diamond a little bit more,” Renteria said.
“We’re just trying to keep him confident. He’s got a lot of talent, so we’ve just got to keep encouraging him and keep working, and hopefully this starts to settle down sooner rather than later.”
