Freak injury lands White Sox starter Rodon on disabled list
All things considered, it could have been worse for Carlos Rodon and the Chicago White Sox.
Rodon, still a promising young starting pitcher who had an uneven first half of the season, landed on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday.
It could have been an elbow injury. It could have been a shoulder injury.
Fortunately for Rodon and the Sox, it's a sprained left wrist that should cost the 23-year-old pitcher only one missed start.
Rodon was injured right before Friday night's game against the Atlanta Braves at U.S. Cellular Field. Coming out of the dugout for the national anthem, he slipped and fell on the field.
"I caught myself with my left hand and it didn't work out too well for me," Rodon said. "I had to brace myself and this happened. I'm not going to lie, I was a little embarrassed. I was like, 'I hope no one saw that.'
"I got out there and was just laughing when the anthem was going on. I came back in and sat down and I was like, 'Uh, all right, this kind of hurts a little bit.'"
Rodon could have broken the wrist, so that's another check in the fortunate column.
The left-hander is on the DL retroactive to July 6, so Rodon is going to miss a start when the White Sox return from the all-star break next Friday and play the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners on the West Coast.
Rodon is hoping to return for the July 21-24 home series against the Detroit Tigers.
"I'll come back in the Tigers series, I believe, if everything is good to go," Rodon said.
Pulling into the break with a 2-7 record and 4.50 ERA, can an extended break benefit Rodon?
"Sure, you can say that," Rodon said. "I didn't really want a mental break. I wanted to come back and start when I had to."
The Sox have to figure out who takes Rodon's place for one start, or possibly more.
"It's unfortunate," manager Robin Ventura said. "Hopefully, it's not going to be anything that lingers past this two weeks. It's something you deal with it and somebody else is going to have to fill his spot when we start back up after the break."
Chris Beck is currently in the Sox's bullpen, but the right-hander has allowed 6 earned runs on 12 hits and 7 walks in 6⅔ innings. Beck made 7 starts at Class AAA Charlotte before joining the White Sox on June 21.
Carson Fulmer is the Sox's top pitching prospect, and he's scheduled to take the mound in Sunday's All-Star Futures Game at San Diego.
While he's been pitching much better with Class AA Birmingham, Fulmer has had some command issues (51 walks in 87 innings) and the White Sox seem more likely to ease him into the major leagues as a relief pitcher.
The Sox could call on one of four Charlotte starters with major-league experience - Anthony Ranaudo (4-3, 3.53 ERA), Jacob Turner (4-7, 4.90), Chris Volstad (5-7, 4.67) or Scott Carroll (2-7, 5.27).
With just two more games before the break, the White Sox recalled reliever Tommy Kahnle from Charlotte to replace Rodon.