White Sox win, get good news on injury front
And just like that, the White Sox are on the rise again.
It has been an up-and-down season from the start, and the Sox have been maddeningly inconsistent over the first half of the season.
With the all-star break coming next week, the White Sox just might have something to play for in the second half. Monday night's 4-0 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park was the Sox' seventh in 10 games, improving their record to 43-47.
In his best start since pitching 7⅓ scoreless innings against Tampa Bay on April 27 in his major-league debut, Scott Carroll threw 6⅔ innings and allowed only 1 hit against Boston.
Carroll was backed by Adam Dunn's solo home run off Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz in the second inning and Dayan Viciedo's 3-run shot in the fourth.
Before the game, Sox general manager Rick Hahn had some more good news - on right fielder Avisail Garcia.
When he dove trying to catch a sinking line drive in an April 9 interleague game at Colorado, Garcia injured the labrum in his left shoulder, had subsequent surgery and was ruled out for the season.
Garcia, who hit 2 home runs against the Rockies the day before and was expected to be an integral part of the Sox' offense, has been playing catch since mid-June.
Before it started raining in Boston on Monday afternoon, Garcia was scheduled to take batting practice for the first time. Hahn said Garcia could be back on the field for the White Sox this season.
"Yes, it is possible," Hahn told reporters. "However, we are still many steps in the rehabilitation away from that, and ultimately the decision about whether Avi plays at the big-league level this year will be dictated primarily by his health and secondarily by what's best for his development."
If the White Sox manage to climb into contention after the all-star break, Garcia's rehab schedule will not be accelerated.
"The club's performance, the club's won-loss record, the situation of the club later in the season once he has progressed to that level, will not be relevant in deciding whether or not he's going to play," Hahn said. "It's going to be decided by his health and what's best for his development going forward.
"Our doctors feel very good 12 weeks post op that physiologically the fracture and the repair have healed, so now it's just a matter of slowly progressing him back into baseball activities and see what timeline that leads to in terms of a potential return."
Only 23, maybe the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Garcia will be able to salvage a portion of a season initially viewed as critical in his development.
"He's still a young kid," Hahn said. "Getting him those repetitions at the big-league level, those plate appearances, is very important. So, yes, there is, from a developmental standpoint, a benefit to getting late decent at-bats if, again, his health and prudence dictates that makes sense.
"We do see benefit in that."
Winter ball would seem to be a good idea for Garcia, whether or not he makes it back this season.
"Initially, there seemed to be some question about whether winter ball was possible or not," Hahn said. "The timeline we're on right now seems to be opening the door to at least that, if not more. We've had enough negative injury issues around here right now that I'm going to be pleased we had one going our way."
sgregor@dailyherald.com