Adam Eaton isn’t completely over his bout with the flu, but he’s feeling strong enough to re-take his spot atop the White Sox lineup for Tuesday’s series opener against Detroit at U.S. Cellular Field.
Eaton said he ran a 103-degree fever from last Thursday through Saturday before having it drop to 99 degrees on Sunday. The White Sox sent Eaton home from Minnesota on Saturday to rest up.
“I’m still not feeling that great, but I’m able to get out of bed so I’m here,” Eaton said. “Hopefully get a couple of wins to make me feel better.”
A few other White Sox players have been sick recently, too, though nobody was willing to use that as an excuse for the team’s 0-5 road trip. Eaton had it worse than anyone, though, and joked that had his wife not been in Minnesota to help keep his fluids up “I would have probably just died in my bed.”
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Eaton’s illness came on the heels of what had been a solid week-long stretch in which he went 8-for-26 with three walks from April 20 through 26. His .308/.379/.423 slash line over that stretch appeared to be a return to his 2014 form (.300/.362/.401), though he went 1-for-8 with three strikeouts after starting to feel sick the last day the team was in Baltimore.
Through 83 plate appearances — a small sample size — Eaton’s batting average is below the Mendoza Line, and his on-base percentage sits at .241. And he’s not the only one struggling — four lineup regulars have an on-base percentage below .255, and the team hasn’t hit a home run since April 22.
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Eaton, though, is confident his numbers and those of his teammates will turn around at some point.
“When I left, there were a lot of guys hovering around .200 and .220 and some really good hitters that were doing that right now. And that’s not us,” Eaton said. “I don’t believe that it’s going to stay there for very long. When we get hitting, it seems like hopefully it is like that, when we all come together as one and we all start hitting the way we are supposed to hit. Baseball is a funny, funny game. Some times things are unexplainable. We are hoping it comes around sooner than later.”