Chicago White Sox lose Jackson, Petricka. Webb to injuries
It was a bad day for the Chicago White Sox on the medical front.
Before Friday night's game against the Kansas City Royals at U.S. Cellular Field, the Sox announced three players - starting center fielder Austin Jackson and relief pitchers Jake Petricka and Daniel Webb - had or will soon have surgery.
Jackson is the key loss.
In addition to playing standout defense in center, which allowed Adam Eaton to thrive in right field, Jackson's bat was heating up following a slow start and he was hitting .385 over his last 11 games.
Jackson suffered a meniscus tear in his left knee running the bases during Thursday night's win over the Nationals. He is scheduled to have surgery next week and be sidelined a minimum of six weeks.
"They'll know more once they go in there," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "I don't want to speculate on timing until we know exactly how much we're dealing with. I don't think it's for the season, but until you go in there and see the extent of the repair that needs to be done you don't know for sure."
The Sox recalled outfielder Jason Coats from Class AAA Charlotte to take Jackson's roster spot.
"He's a tough out," Hahn said of Jackson. "I think even when he was hitting into hard luck, he was seeing a lot of pitches. It seemed like he had a 3-2 count about every time he was up there. And as of late, his last probably 10-12 games he played, he was finally get some better luck on balls in play and was a nice piece there."
With Jackson sidelined for an extended stretch, Eaton is moving back to center field. Avisail Garcia was in right field Friday night.
"Austin's been great for us in center field, and now I'm going to have to play center, which is fine," Eaton said.
As for Petricka and Webb, they both had surgeries on Friday and are out for the season.
Petricka had surgery to repair a labral tear in his right hip. Webb had Tommy John surgery.
In 9 relief appearances with the White Sox this season, Petricka had a 4.50 ERA. Webb appeared in one game for the Sox and pitched 1 scoreless inning. The right-hander spent the rest of the season with Class AAA Charlotte.
Hahn has been very active making roster changes the past week. Is there an urgency to find a replacement for Jackson?
"It doesn't really change the approach," Hahn said. "The approach is trying to continue to be aggressive, whether it's with determining our guys are ready or players outside the organization who address our needs. The Austin news probably puts additional outfield consideration on the table for us.
"At the same time, Jacob May is coming back from an oblique strain in the near future so we want to see what he can do at Charlotte. He'd potentially be in consideration, as would Adam Engel, who's been playing pretty well since he returned to (Class AA) Birmingham."