The White Sox will be without one of their promising young hitters until they're about halfway through the season in 2026. According to MLB.com, Tim Elko underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee and is expected to return to action in eight months.
That puts him on track to get back on the field at the end of June.
Elko made his major league debut on May 10 last season, and impressed by hitting for power almost immediately. He hit his first home run in his second big-league game. Over the first 10 games of his career, he had five hits, three of which left the yard. He drove in five runs during that time, too.
Elko's offense petered out from there, however, and he spent most of the rest of the season bouncing between Chicago and Triple-A Charlotte. He finished the year with a .134/.194/.328 slash line with four homers, eight RBI and an ugly 5:30 walk-to-strikeout ratio.
Tim Elko's difficult second-half health challenges make more sense after latest White Sox injury reveal
Equally important, however, were Elko's 20 appearances at first base. That position was a carousel for the White Sox all season, with no player making more than 63 appearances there. The team has no obvious choices to man first regularly heading into the offseason, so Elko figured to compete for starts there if the team doesn't make any major offseason additions to fill the role.
This is not the first time Elko's right knee has needed treatment. On July 11 last year, the White Sox placed him on the 10-Day IL due to a right knee strain. He started a rehab assignment after that injury on July 30 and was activated from the IL on Aug. 4. It seems plausible that either further damage happened to the ACL during his midsummer rehab, or he was playing through something more severe than was initially let on.
Other White Sox who played first base last year include Miguel Vargas (63 games), Lenyn Sosa (42) and Andrew Vaughn (31). Chicago now needs reinforcements at the position in the worst way.