Tim Anderson's ankle sprain compared to Eloy Jimenez's, which could be good news for White Sox

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When Eloy Jimenez needed help leaving the field back on April 26, fans got really worried that something really bad happened to one of the centerpieces of the White Sox ongoing rebuilding project.

The same feelings shot through the fan base Tuesday night, when Tim Anderson was helped off a rain-soaked field at Fenway Park.

But Jimenez ended up suffering only a high ankle sprain after his leg awkwardly folded up against the outfield wall at Guaranteed Rate Field while he attempted to rob a Detroit Tigers home run. He missed about a month, sure, but it was far from the worst-case scenario many feared. Anderson received the same diagnosis, a high ankle sprain, and now the White Sox are hopeful their shortstop of the future can bounce back as well as their left fielder of the future did.

"The prognosis is it remains a high ankle sprain," general manager Rick Hahn said ahead of Friday's game against the Minnesota Twins. "I would compare it to Eloy's injury in that generally they take four to six weeks but sometimes they progress on a better timeline than that. We'll stick with it over the coming weeks, but obviously he's going to be down for a little bit.

"Initially, it looked real bad, obviously. And really it does hearken back to the experience with Eloy, when he came off the field, needing assistance. It seemed like that was going to be worse, as well. These high ankle sprains are serious, and you've got to give them time. ... You've got to let it heal and then slowly start ramping up activity. So it's going to take some time.

"I don't want to say we got lucky. But it progressed nicely from a biology standpoint on Eloy, and early on, the first couple, three days, Timmy's coming along nicely, as well. Hopefully it follows that same path."

Jimenez ended up missing 21 games with his ankle sprain. Anderson was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday, and obviously his stay is expected to last longer than that. It wouldn't be surprising to see him back before the end of July, but it also wouldn't be surprising to see him out until August, either. It's hard to forecast things exactly, as Hahn explained.

And with a player like Anderson, whose legs are such an important part of his game, it's important to make sure he's back to 100 percent.

"Obviously a speed player, you want to err on the side of caution," Hahn said. "You want to put him through as much game activity as possible and really make sure he’s without restriction and can handle all the things he has to do. Obviously a big part of Tim’s game, or a big benefit of Tim’s game is that arm strength when he’s deep in the hole, and you want to be able to make sure he has the range to go down deep in the hole like that.

"We’re at a day and age now where there are certain strength and mobility and flexibility markers that we can objectively measure from a health standpoint to make sure he’s there. It’s another thing to get him out there playing and trusting it, and we’ll make sure through a rehab assignment that he gets to that point before he’s activated."

It's unfortunate timing for Anderson, who might have landed on the American League roster for next month's All-Star Game — "certainly, in my biased opinion, he belongs in Cleveland," Hahn said — thanks to his .317/.342/.491 slash line. But now his breakout season will have a long layoff smack dab in the middle of it.

As for what the White Sox will do at the shortstop while Anderson's on the shelf, it looks like Leury Garcia moving from center to short is the way manager Rick Renteria wants to go. He did that Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox and did it Friday against the Twins. Once Yoan Moncada returns from his hit-by-pitch-induced absence, Renteria has the option to mix and match, perhaps sometimes playing Jose Rondon at short and allowing Garcia to stay in the outfield or perhaps take a day off from time to time.

The White Sox will undoubtedly miss Anderson. But things could have been much worse. And if his recovery is anything like Jimenez's, then the end result will be all right.

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