White Sox's depth at third base being tested as Burger (oblique) goes on IL

The White Sox are running out of third basemen.

In Wednesday night's win over the Twins, Jake Burger didn't look right on a swing against Minnesota starter Louie Varland in the fourth inning.

"Felt it on the changeup up and in that didn't drop," Burger said. "Kind of a weird pitch and a weird swing. Wish I felt better."

Before Thursday afternoon's game, Burger was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left oblique.

Burger, who had been filling for the injured Yoan Moncada (back) at third base for almost a month, leads the Sox with 7 home runs and a .924 OPS.

Oblique strains can take weeks to heal, so Hanser Alberto is currently No. 1 on the White Sox's depth chart at third. Alberto (quad) just returned from the IL Tuesday.

Lenyn Sosa, who was sent down on Tuesday, was called back up from Class AAA Charlotte Thursday to take Burger's roster spot.

With Tim Anderson not starting Thursday, Elvis Andrus played shortstop and Sosa filled in for him at second base.

"We'll mix and match," manager Pedro Grifol said.

Moncada has been out since April 10, but his return is finally in sight. Grifol said the switch-hitter is ready to go on a rehab assignment this weekend.

"He looked good (Wednesday)," Grifol said. "The last piece was the right-handed swing. He took some swings right-handed for the second day in a row with good effort. Felt pretty good, ran well, was sliding. He checked all the boxes, so we're looking for him to go out pretty soon."

As for when Moncada will be able to rejoin the Sox, it's too early to say.

"Moncada's missed quite a bit of time and it's the back, the back is fragile," Grifol said. "We want to make sure it continues to head in the right direction, that it continues to gain strength there. The work capacity has to be worked up to a high level. He's going to be playing third base, he's going to be diving around, he's going to be diving and getting up.

"He swings from both sides of the plate, he does a lot. We have to wait and see. It could be a shorter (rehab), it could be a longer one. There are recovery phases to this, so we'll see."

Take a break:

After missing three weeks with a sprained left knee, Tim Anderson was back with the White Sox Tuesday and he made an expected instant impact.

The all-star shortstop played the first two games of the Twins series but was held out of the starting lineup Thursday.

"Nothing's bothering him," manager Pedro Grifol said. "He came back quick, he's played a couple days, the workload is up. We're just making sure we have him available for the rest of the season, so we're going to give him a little bit of recovery and he'll get back after it tomorrow."

Anderson did come on in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter and stayed in the game, going 0-for-3 and making an error.

Cheat sheet:

Not only did Sox reliever Keynan Middleton earn his first save in nearly two years Wednesday night, he was extra excited to strike out Minnesota's Carlos Correa to end the game.

"I knew I was going to face Correa and I don't like him, so it was kind of cool," Middleton said. "I mean, he's a cheater."

Correa played for the 2017 World Series champion Astros, who are still widely loathed for being involved in a sign-stealing scandal.

"I've heard worse," Correa told reporters of Middleton's comment at Guaranteed Rate Field Thursday morning.

Correa went on to praise Middleton, a journeyman who pitched for the Angels, Mariners and Diamondbacks before joining the White Sox this year.

"I'm just glad he's doing good and playing good and he can take care of his family," Correa said. "Obviously, his stuff has gotten better. That's why he's pitching in high-leverage situations for them."