The White Sox placed utilityman Leury Garcia on the seven-day concussion injured list today, retroactive to August 13. Infielder Danny Mendick was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move. The versatile Garcia has received multiple starts at six different positions this season, including 28 games at second base and 46 games spread across all three outfield spots. Now in his ninth season with the White Sox, Garcia’s super-utility status has made him a valuable bench piece and a semi-regular starter, even though he hasn’t contributed much at the plate.
Due to the nature of concussion symptoms, it isn’t known how much time Garcia could miss. The Sox do have a bit more of a timeline lightly sketched out for Carlos Rodon, however, as manager Tony La Russa suggested to reporters (including MLB.com’s Scott Merkin) that Rodon might pitch during Chicago’s four-game series against the Blue Jays that runs from August 23-26. Rodon’s 10-day IL placement due to shoulder fatigue retroactively began on August 8, and though La Russa said at the time that Rodon would likely be out of action beyond the 10-day minimum, a return against Toronto would still represent a relatively quick comeback for the left-hander.
More from around the AL Central…
- Adalberto Mondesi will visit with the Royals medical team after feeling tightness in his left oblique. Mondesi has been out of action since June 21 due to an oblique strain, and due to a right oblique strain and a hamstring strain earlier in the season, Mondesi has played in just 10 games in 2021. Royals manager Mike Matheny told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters that the idea of shutting Mondesi down for the season “hasn’t been talked about,” and the team is for now seeing this issue as just “a little bit of a setback” until more information is known. Mondesi had already been on a Triple-A rehab assignment for much of August.
- Both Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale are set to throw on Tuesday as the two Indians starters continue to work their way back from injury. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer (Twitter link) was among those to report that Bieber tossed a bullpen session yesterday and will throw another bullpen on Tuesday. Civale’s outing Tuesday will be a two-inning simulated game, and if all goes well, Civale could begin a rehab assignment.
- Tigers right-hander Julio Teheran was throwing with low velocity while tossing a live batting practice session, and was shut down. As Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press), Teheran “hasn’t been able to generate the arm speed that’s going to be needed for him to step into a rehab assignment.” The veteran righty made just one start for Detroit before a shoulder strain put him on the 60-day IL back in April, so multiple rehab starts will be necessary for Teheran to ramp back up. Since it is already mid-August, however, “we’re running out of time,” Hinch said. “We’re going to have to determine what’s the next step for him if he’s going to make any part of the rest of the season.”
Mondesi & Bieber, 2 bright young stars. Baseball needs to figure out how to get these guys on the field & keep them there. Baseball has failed to keep Trout, Tatis, Soto, Sororka, Acuna et al. Something is wrong with the basics of baseball if we can’t keep these young people playing baseball. Figure it out, Manfred
how is this baseball’s fault lol??
Manfred injured Acuna? Please tell us more! Inquiring minds want to know…
Maybe one of you geniuses can explain the ridiculous amounts of injuries., especially to the young. The injuries will eventually ruin baseball, if it already hasn’t. I’m all ears…….
And by the way, let me give myself thumbs up, just like you have. SMH
@Curly
I guess those voodoo dolls Manfred’s been using on the players really does work. LOL
I’m pretty sure the point is that the answer is there is no answer! Nobody in any sport can guarantee that their stars stay healthy! Look at every other league, it’s all the same. Sure, the NFL and NHL can implement rules to lower concussions, but they can’t help it when a guy pivots and tears his ACL! If you could prevent injuries in sports the NBA would NEVER have let Durant get injured, the NHL would NEVER let Crosby get injured, the NFL would never let McCaffrey get injured, etc, etc. Sports move fast and they are hard on your body at the highest level. You will never stop injuries from happening!
Probably Donald Trump’s fault somehow too huh?
What a stupid comment. You probably want to take hitting out of hockey and turn the NFL into a flag football league.
What has the commissioner done to alter the game of baseball that makes you think it’s his fault?
No one’s denying the rise in injuries, they’re just mocking you for insinuating the commissioner can fix it.
Not everything is someone else’s fault, and not BBC all problems have a solution. Some things just are.
Couldn’t agree more. Athletes are bigger, faster , stronger now, but ligaments and joints are not! Athletes run faster, swing/throw harder, jump higher, but that results in more strain on other parts of the body, hence more injuries. What is the commissioner to do, tell guys to train less and go back to 80s baseball so there are less injuries.
I can’t say I follow all Manfred’s decisions close enough to fairly judge him, but I can say he can’t prevent injuries, especially in baseball!
How do you mean he can’t? I just gave one potential, put seems back on the ball. Maybe don’t play 6-7 games per week. Idk the answer, but to say there’s no solution is lazy.
@lemonlyman, it isn’t what he’s done, it’s what he hasn’t done. As commissioner of baseball he can create a commission to investigate these rash of injuries. Baseballs have been changed, the mound has been raised & lowered, distance to the plate has been changed (& there’s talk of changing it again). Is there something there that can affect players?
Something has gone sour this year, & Manfred needs to investigate.
MLB has changed the rules to assure that its version of baseball is non-contact sport.
It’s the front offices that have mandated that each game needs to be played like the 7th game of the WS (imagine NFL teams preparing to play 162 games a year). Rosters literally need to be changed daily to accommodate that days game plan. Every single movement a player makes on and off the field (i.e. in workout sessions) are videotaped and analyzed. The players are programmed into robot’s – told where to stand on defense, what pitches not to swing at, trained to speak humbly in interviews, and they line up with their arms hanging over the dugout railing by the 5th inning of each game, looking like animals awaiting feeding time at the zoo.
There is very little about the sport that hasn’t been computerized. With the DH coming to the NL shortly, we’ll be seeing more station-to-station baseball, even less strategy, and every team slowly being homogenized to a point that they all play like each other.
It appears that MLB officials are concerned about players sliding into one another on the bases, but have no concerns about them running into one another when strangers are playing screwball shifts and running into each other chasing fly balls. There is concern about spin rates and speed of pitches, but no concern as to what that is doing to pitchers health each season and even to their career length. Even with the best medical equipment and trainers, batters are injuring themselves swinging at a pitch. ?
It’s absurd what is going on in MLB regarding injuries. Again, this is amazing for what is supposed to be a non-contact sport.
As for the fans – unless following your MLB team is a full-time vocation, it’s impossible to keep up with who’s on your team and available to play that day…..let along keep up with opposing teams.
Well said @Samuel. I figured I’d irritate a lot of folks with my post, but so be it. These injuries are out of control & as a result, teams can’t put their best players on the field. Can’t field your best players? Disappointed fans.
Injury increase due to Covid? I don’t know. Pitchers have to throw from 95 to 100 mph? I miss “pitchers” not throwers. I miss the knuckle ball, stolen bases, bunts, hit & run, fielders hiding the ball trying to fool base runners. DH in the NL….ugh
@Curly
I’ll definitely agree with you on that. I definitely miss SP’s that can pitch complete games, SB’s, especially hit & run. In fact, if executed correctly, the sacrifice bunt–more specifically, the suicide squeeze–might be the most exciting play in baseball. Problem is, most players can’t execute the bunt properly, which is quite sad.
One thumbs up isn’t even close to enough to give you on that one.
@83sox94win05, Remember Steve Hamilton , a pitcher for the Yankees back in 1963/4, he had a lob pitch called the “Folly Floater”? He threw it about 30 feet in the air & landed in the catchers mitt with accuracy. My brother & I almost wet ourselves. I miss that kind of showmanship. He also threw up on the mound once after accidentally swallowing a wad of tobacco chew. You can’t make this stuff up.
I thought you were posting as the “smart stooge”?
Oh, without a doubt, that would be Curly!!
Just so you know, there’s other intelligent people willing to populate the comments section of this site. Of course the commissioners should ensure players can stay healthy to play. One thing that is killing pitchers is throwing a baseball that is more like a cue ball than a ball from the 2000’s.
It is less “Baseball needs to figure out” how to keep players healthy and on the field and more a case of injuries are always going to be a factor. Sometimes its the 26th man on the roster and sometimes its a super star, nothing Baseball can do about that. Now if it is an issue of conditioning and players failing at staying in shape that is a team issue to address.
*insert Billy Madison principal monologue
Chisox are hoping for a quick return of Rodon, and a healthy return. Ever since crackdown on ‘sticky stuff’,Giolito and Keuchel haven’t been nearly the same pitchers as they were earlier.
@Dogbone
Keuchel hasn’t been the same pitcher even before the crackdown, so I don’t think the ‘sticky stuff’ helped him much.
As for Giolito, I guess we’ll see how much it truly affects him come October. I bet you can’t wait until October, can you?
Sox is right. Keuchel hasn’t really been all that good at any time this season so far so it’s a little difficult to attribute his struggles to substances. Mucking things up even more is that he is 33. This wouldn’t be such a strange point for him to regress.
Well, the good thing about Keuchel is that he’s only under contract for 2 more years……for $18M each year. Nice money for a 5th starter to get.
@83sox. Your right, October can’t come soon enough. What is the Chisox record against teams with winning records? Come again, what’s that record? Little louder and prouder, lol.
@Dogbone
You do realize that you can throw these stats out the window come playoff time. All you have to do is get a seat at the table and get hot in Oct. You really think the ’03 Marlins were better than your Cubs or the Yanks? No, but it doesn’t matter, they won anyway. The ’05 Sox were the perfect example of getting red hot at the perfect time.
But since the Sox should demonstrate they have to beat good teams, let’s delve into the stats, shall we?
First, the playoff teams if the season ended today:
TB 2-1
Hou 2-5
Boston 2-2
Oak 0-0 (1st game tonight)
Milwaukee 1-2
Total 7-10
Not great, not horrible
Now the rest:
Yanks 1-5
Sea 3-3
Tor 2-1
Cincy 1-1
St Louis 2-1
9-11 for a grand total of 16-21
But wait, there’s more:
They still have 7 vs Oak, 3 vs Boston, 4 vs Tor, 3 vs TB, and 3 vs Cincy
So there’s still time.
Tehran not being able to pitch this season keeps Avila’s track record on FA starters perfect. They are either total disasters or spend the year on the injured list. He’s much better finding minor league free agents. Keep the money away from him at the Major league level.
I am puzzled on how this GM can have such bad luck on picking FA. We don’t have crystal balls to see the future but something has to be looked at before he signs big contracts this year. I would consider JV but why the hell they did not pickup Ricky P. He would have been a safe risk.
Teheran doesn’t have an injury history in which to draw from. He’s actually been pretty durable during his career so its not like Avila gambled on damaged goods and lost. Now, Jose Urena on the other hand has been just as awful as was to be expected
Could just be bad scouting.
Teheran was a minor league free agent, stymeedone. He did well enough in Spring Training to earn a trip north.
Should hire the Superfife. We have a plan……
Mike Fiers was a good signing.
Mondesi needs to talk to Merrifield about how to stay healthy. In the past 3 years Whit has played 5 different positions and yet plays everyday. Merrifield and Mondesi are both speed guys who hit for average with a little bit of power.
What a lame conversation.
Players are responsible for themselves.
It is in a teams’ best interest to guide, advise and assist the players stay healthy.
Geez…..this is America’s game. How about we play it like Americans?
Next thing you know they’ll be putting up stop lights everywhere,telling us when to stop and when to go…then they’ll add the cameras…. pretty soon we’ll have a whole generation that doesn’t even know the difference……of how it once was…….