The Chicago White Sox are having one of “those” starts to what should be a very good season. By the end of the year, we might all be laughing at the fact that they had this mediocre of a start. Hopefully, they can keep getting better and start winning a lot more than losing.
There are still a few more hurdles left for them to climb before they get their team back to even strength. For one, they announced on Friday that they have placed Lucas Giolito on the COVID-19 list. It is unclear how long he is going to be out.
There is no time limit on the COVID list so Giolito can return whenever necessary. He was expected to start on Monday but that might get delayed for a game or two. We will see but they certainly need him back as healthy as possible soon.
The White Sox did follow up that bad news with some good news on Friday. They announced that Andrew Vaughn will be back on the roster as he has been reinstated off the 10-day IL. He took Giolito’s place on the roster.
Prior to tonight’s game vs. the #Yankees, the #WhiteSox placed RHP Lucas Giolito on the COVID-19 Related injured list, returned outfielder Andrew Vaughn from his injury rehab assignment at Class AAA Charlotte and reinstated him from the 10-day injured list.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 13, 2022
La Russa said Giolito’s symptoms are mild and they hope he will still pitch in Kansas City at some point.
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) May 13, 2022
Andrew Vaughn is working out and hitting in the cage, but La Russa plans on playing him the next two games after he flew in today and arrived a couple hours ago.
The Chicago White Sox gave out some good news and bad news on Friday.
Whoever Vaughn is ultimately replacing will be sent down to AAA once Giolito returns. There are a few different options to send down so it will be interesting to see how that goes. Either way, getting Vaughn back is outstanding for this team.
He went down to AAA where he hardly ever played before reaching Major League Baseball in 2021. He hit two home runs on Thursday night down there, much to the pleasure of the White Sox and the fans. It was clear that he was feeling good and ready to return.
Vaughn is not in Friday’s lineup against the New York Yankees. He may be available off the bench but he is surely going to play this weekend. It is going to be great to see him back at Guaranteed Rate Field where he has been so good so far this season.
The White Sox will be facing Gerrit Cole on Friday night. That might not be the best situation to get Vaughn back in. We can only hope that the rest of the offense is able to pick it up for him and get a big win over an elite pitcher.
Now that Vaughn is back, they just need to get Giolito off the COVID-19 list along with getting Lance Lynn and Eloy Jimenez healthy again. Once that happens, this team will be good enough to win the division and maybe more.