Chicago White Sox prospect Burger suffers another Achilles tear
With a big bat and personality to match, Jake Burger was the perfect fit for the Chicago White Sox.
So when it came time to make the No. 11 overall pick in last year's amateur draft, the Sox pounced on the Missouri State third baseman.
"I grew up watching Paul Konerko and tried to emulate his game," an elated Burger said. "There are no words to describe how pumped I am and excited I am for this opportunity."
Roughly 11 months later, Burger's unbridled enthusiasm has taken a second hit.
Playing for the White Sox in a Feb. 26 spring training game, Burger ruptured his left Achilles tendon running down the first-base line and was done for the season. It was a difficult dose of news to swallow, but the outgoing prospect vowed to come back from the serious injury better than ever.
"When something like this happens you have a decision to make," Burger said. "You can either kind of mope around and be disappointed in it or you can take it as a positive thing and look at it as a positive. It's kind of an extended off-season, you know? I can focus on nutrition, focus on my diet, focus on my body."
Unfortunately for Burger and the Sox, it's back to the starting line on the road to recovery.
Before Wednesday afternoon's interleague game against the Pirates at Guaranteed Rate Field, general manager Rick Hahn announced Burger re-tore the Achilles last week while walking in his backyard at his Arizona home.
"He took a step and, unfortunately, felt a pop," Hahn said. "It appears nothing could've been done to prevent this. Much like the first one, just something that happens."
Burger was given a one-year recovery period when he first injured the Achilles. That is where he's at again.
"The clock is now at 12 months, once again, until we expect to see him back in competitive games and playing regularly," Hahn said. "There is nothing the kid did wrong, no issue with anything along the path of his rehabilitation. Unfortunately, this apparently happens in a relatively small percentage of Achilles repairs. Despite his hard work, Jake suffered this re-injury."
Progress for Hansen, Robert:
While the news for Burger is not good, two more injured White Sox prospects are making positive progress.
Top pitching prospect Alec Hansen has been sidelined with right forearm soreness for more than two months, but the 6-foot-8 righty was throwing from the mound on Tuesday.
"At this point, he's clinically fine," Hahn said. "It's just a matter of rebuilding the pitching strength and getting him into game shape, which obviously during the healing process fades away."
Out since early March with a sprained ligament in his left thumb, promising outfield prospect Luis Robert is also getting closer to joining low Class A Winston-Salem.
"He's down in extended (spring training)," Hahn said. "He's starting to slowly ramp up baseball activities and you'll see him start appearing in extended games in the coming weeks and then hopefully rejoin Winston-Salem in the not-too-distant future."
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