The White Sox will be without one of their bigger bats for a while.
Avisail Garcia was placed on the 10-day disabled list ahead of Tuesday afternoon's game with the Seattle Mariners. The night before, Garcia pulled up while running to first base on a ground ball. He remained on the ground for a little while and needed assistance getting off the field and back to the White Sox dugout. The team called his injury a strained hamstring, and that's what forced him to the DL on Tuesday.
"It’s considered mild to moderate," manager Rick Renteria said before Tuesday's game. "So depending on how quickly he’s able to heal and the exercises they do to put him back on track, we’re hoping it’s not a long, extended DL stint. I don’t see it that way, but we’ll see where it’s at in a few days after he’s calmed it down and they’re doing what they need to do with it."
Garcia's quest to repeat his All-Star campaign from 2017 hasn't gotten off to the best start. He's slashing just .233/.250/.315, and while those numbers can of course improve over the course of the season, they look paltry compared to his 2017 slash line of .330/.380/.506, which had him statistically as one of the better hitters in the American League. Of his 17 hits on the 2018 season, just four have gone for extra bases.
To replace the injured corner outfielder on the 25-man roster, the White Sox brought up Daniel Palka from Triple-A. Palka is having a nice start to 2018, slashing .286/.384/.476 with three home runs in 17 games at Charlotte. Last season, he slashed .274/.330/.431 with 12 home runs.
"In terms of Palka, he’s a left-handed bat, obviously his first time in the big leagues. I’m sure we’ll try to integrate him as quick as we possibly can, use him both in the outfield, pinch-hitting, maybe DHing on a particular day," Renteria said. "We’ll try to take advantage of what he brings to the table. We also want to find out what he’s going to be able to do here. He had a nice showing in the spring. Obviously comes with a lot of power, maybe we can take advantage of that a little bit."
The White Sox outfield looks significantly different now than it did just a week ago. The team acquired Trayce Thompson in a trade with the Oakland Athletics, and he's already homered in his return to the South Side. Now with Garcia on the shelf for a while, expect to see more of both Thompson and Palka.
MLB
"I think any opportunity, everything is opportunity in the game," Palka said. "You're ready to go at Day 1, so that's the plan.
"Come out Day 1 in whatever role there is, whatever role needs to be filled, just be consistent in that role."