White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson will be out for 4-6 weeks due to a torn ligament in his hand Bally Sports and Stadium’s Russell Dorsey. Dorsey says surgery is a possibility. Anderson last played on Saturday and then began a two-game suspension for contacting a referee during a dispute in late July. Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that while serving the first game of his suspension on Sunday, Anderson arrived to have his hand checked. The Sox had a day off Monday and are playing a doubleheader today, the first game of which will be the second game of Anderson’s suspension. That means they may not make a roster change until between games of the twin bill, but Anderson seems destined to end up on the injured list at that point.
This news is obviously awful for the White Sox as they are in the middle of a playoff race. The club is currently 55-53, two games behind the Twins and a game behind the Guardians in the American League Central and 2 1/2 behind the Mariners for the last AL wild card berth. The club have struggled with a myriad of injuries throughout the year but have recently upgraded the squad to a healthier position in relative terms. outfielder Louis Robert was activated from the injured list last week while outfielder Eloy Jimenez and Adam Angelcatcher Yasmani Grandal and closer Liam Hendricks all returned from IL stays in July. Unfortunately, their star shortstop will now be out of service for an extended period of time.
Anderson, 29, struggled in his early MLB seasons but broke out in 2019 and has been outstanding ever since. From the start of this campaign to date, he’s hit 51 homers, stole 53 bases and has a .318/.347/.473 batting line. He has a wRC+ of 124, indicating his offense was 24% better than the league average during that period. According to FanGraphs, he’s racked up 13.9 wins over backup in those four years. This year he missed three weeks earlier in the season with a groin strain and has only made 79 games for the season so far. He’s hit six home runs, nicked 13 bags and batted .301/.339/.395 for a wRC+ of 111. That’s a slight drop from his previous seasons, but he’s still put out 2.2 fWAR a year, a production who will surely be missed.
Given that 4-6 window for his absence, he likely won’t return until mid to late September. This year’s schedule has been pushed back slightly due to the offseason lockout, meaning the last day of the regular season isn’t until October 5th. Regardless, there won’t be much time left if Anderson is able to return.
Perhaps compounding the severity of this injury is that the White Sox member, other than Anderson, has played the most shortstops this year Danny Mendik, who is himself on the injured list, is out for the season after tearing his cruciate ligament in June. When Mendick went on the shelf, the club promoted the 22-year-old prospect Lenin Sosa, who was primarily shortstop with the Minors but has played second base in his four MLB games to date. With Anderson and Mendick both out, he may have to step into a more everyday role. He’s hit .331/.384/.549 in 62 Double-A games this year, .275/.316/.407 in 23 Triple-A games, and .083/.154/.167 in those four MLB competitions. utility player Leury Garcia could be an option, although he’s never played more than 19 games in a season and has spent more time at second base and outfield. He achieves 0.216/0.240/0.282 a year for a wRC+ of 46. Romy Gonzales is on the 40-man list, currently in the minors, but he’s hit just .219/.318/.354 in Triple-A this year, wRC+ of 83.
With none of the options on the squad inspiring much confidence, the club could look outside for additions to help them out in the short term, although that will be difficult at this time of year. With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, they cannot acquire a player who was on a 40-man roster this year through trade. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently outlined, trades are still possible for players who haven’t been on a 40-man roster this season, but that will obviously limit the Sox to options that are themselves fairly unexciting. Perhaps the club’s best option would be to look for a veteran recently sacked by another team. speculatively speaking, Didier Gregory, recently released by the Phillies, could be getting a call from Chicago. With the Phillies on the hook for the remainder of his salary, the White Sox were able to bring him on board and pay him only the prorated league minimum, with that amount deducted from what the Phillies pay. Regardless of how they react to it, there’s no question the White Sox are worse without Anderson with less than two months remaining in a tight playoff race.