The Chicago White Sox have been hit by the injury bug hard over the past two seasons. Other teams have too but few have had to deal with injuries to consequential players as much as the Sox have. Tim Anderson and Michael Kopech might be turning that around though.
Tim Anderson went down a couple of weekends ago and has been on the IL ever since. However, he went to AAA and has been dominating down there. He clearly looks healthy so some started to wonder when he’ll be back. It wasn’t about his swinging at first as it was more his running ability.
Well, La Russa confirmed on Friday that Anderson will be back with the White Sox on Monday. That means he will join them at home after being out for a couple of weeks. This is great news as the rest of the team is starting to heat up around him.
La Russa also confirmed that Michael Kopech is going to make his start on Sunday. That was in jeopardy after he hurt his knee 13 pitches into his last start against the Texas Rangers. He landed after throwing a pitch awkwardly and it took him out.
It was one of those things where it looked like it could keep him out a while but everything was okay. He had his knee drained and is good to go. That is a huge thing for the White Sox rotation this weekend as the Houston Astros will have to face both Lucas Giolito and Michael Kopech who are the two best pitchers on the staff.
Sunday will be Kopech starting, per La Russa. Anderson expected back with the White Sox on Monday
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) June 17, 2022
The Chicago White Sox needs Tim Anderson and Michael Kopech at full strength.
It would be awesome to see the White Sox shake the injury bug for a while. Lance Lynn just came back which is nice but they still have (in addition to Tim Anderson) Eloy Jimenez, Aaron Bummer, and Liam Hendriks on the Injured List. Garrett Crochet is out for the year after Tommy John surgery.
Getting good news is always nice. Especially when the White Sox appear to be on the upward trajectory. They need to keep winning and that will get easier to do with regularity when they get their full complement of players. This is a huge task with Houston but to be the best you need to beat the best.