White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson will miss two to four weeks after spraining his left knee during Monday’s game against the Minnesota Twins, Chicago announced Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Chicago placed Anderson on the 10-day injured list and recalled infielder Lenyn Sosa from Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move.
- Anderson, 29, is hitting .298 with 14 hits and four RBIs in 11 games this season
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How was Anderson injured?
Anderson suffered a knee injury on a rundown play in the fourth inning of Chicago’s 4-3 win over the Twins on Monday. With runners on first and second base, Minnesota’s Michael A. Taylor hit a routine grounder to third baseman Hanser Alberto. As Matt Wallner was caught in a rundown between second and third, Alberto chased after Wallner before throwing out to second for the forceout.
Second baseman Elvis Andrus then threw the ball toward third, but Alberto caught it and threw it to Anderson. The shortstop bent down to pick up the ball, and Wallner slid into Anderson near third base. Anderson held his knee briefly in pain, and although he decided to stay in the game, he was eventually removed in the sixth.
“He felt a little pain when it happened,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said after the game. “He felt like he could play with it and it kind of stiffened him.”
Alberto took some blame for the rundown play where Anderson got hurt: “That was poor communication between me and TA. He called a play after I threw to Elvis, so I should have dodged. But it happened quickly.” — Fegan
What this means for the White Sox
The White Sox have a relatively proven backup shortstop in Andrus, who shined last year while filling in for an injured Anderson both defensively and hitting in the lead-off spot. For much of the offseason, the coaching staff expressed confidence in Romy Gonzalez’s ability to hold down the second base job when called upon, and only remembered Sosa hitting Triple-A Charlotte just as he plans to push into the mix more. early than later.
But it’s Anderson, the MLB leader in batting average since 2019, and the catalyst of the White Sox offense since his breakout. Since returning to playoff contention in 2020, the Sox are 38 games over .500 when Anderson plays and five games under when he doesn’t. The loss of Eloy Jiménez and with Yoán Moncada slowed by back pain, makes the always incredible loss of Anderson even more difficult for a team that started 5-6 despite averaging the seventh most runs per baseball game.
There’s some consolation that this isn’t something that should keep Anderson away from the start of May. After major injuries sustained in normal baseball movements like swinging and running forced the White Sox to overhaul some staffing and review training practices, this setback is more of an oddity. accident than anything else. The 2021 AL Central-winning team made it through Anderson’s absence this long without going down, and Jiménez and Moncada could both be in the lineup by the end of the week to shoulder some of the offensive burden. But what the White Sox needed most to bounce back from last year was a healthy season with their core players, and they weren’t getting that. — Fegan
What they say
Anderson was visibly upset when talking about the injury Tuesday.
“It’s frustrating. You’re doing everything right to try to stop creating damage and it’s something I can’t control,” he said. “I just have to roll with it.”
The shortstop said it “took a while” to feel the sprain.
“I felt something strange but I don’t know what it was. It was a little bit of discomfort and I kind of played an inning or two more. I started to get stiff and just decided to go out.”
Pedro Grifol was asked if he blamed Matt Wallner for the slide that injured Anderson.
“That’s up to us. They don’t have that,” said Grifol. “It was a poorly executed rundown. He did what he had to do. Unfortunately, Timmy and I cost (IL) but I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
Required reading
(Photo: Quinn Harris/Getty)
