White Sox outfielder Austin Jackson remains a ways away from returning from the torn meniscus he suffered June 9, general manager Rick Hahn said Thursday.
The 29-year-old Jackson underwent surgery to deride and remove a small portion of the medial meniscus in his left knee June 15. He underwent a follow-up MRI that showed “modest improvement” in his surgically-repaired knee and will slowly begin non-contact activities soon.
“It’s going to be a slow return for him,” Hahn said. “It’s going to be a while. Assuming he doesn’t have a set back with the non impact then we’ll start ramping up baseball, although we’re still several weeks away on that one.”
Jackson was hitting .254/.318/.343 before landing on the disabled list. His primary replacement, J.B. Shuck, has a .250/.270/.382 slash line in 43 games this season.
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The White Sox got some bad news on ailing catcher Alex Avila this week. Avila re-aggravated his strained right hamstring — which landed him on the disabled list July 6 — during a rehab assignment game with Triple-A Charlotte on Wednesday and underwent an MRI Thursday that showed “similar damage to what he had in the past,” Hahn said.
Avila, who leads White Sox regulars with a .362 on-base percentage, is at least four weeks away from coming off the disabled list.
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Left-hander Carlos Rodon (sprained left wrist) played catch Sunday and will throw a side session next Tuesday. He’ll throw another side a few days after the first one and then go on a rehab assignment before coming off the disabled list. Rodon suffered his injury when he slipped coming out of the third base dugout at U.S. Cellular Field July 8.
“He is advancing and improving and hopefully that rehab isn’t too far off,” Hahn said.
Lastly, right-hander Zach Putnam (ulnar neuritis in right elbow) had setback in his recovery and is likely to undergo surgery to remove bone spurs from his right elbow. He’ll require “several weeks,” Hahn said, after undergoing surgery before he could return from the disabled list.