White Sox Daily Notebook - June 11, 2021
Sox take two of three from Toronto with another exciting win at Guaranteed Rate Field but lose Nick Madrigal.
The Chicago White Sox (38-24) topped the Toronto Blue Jays (31-29) on Thursday night to take the series but lose second baseman Nick Madrigal, to a hamstring injury.
Nick Madrigal Injury
The hits keep coming for the Chicago White Sox when it comes to the injury bug, with the club losing another key contributor for an extended period of time, this time losing Nick Madrigal for the foreseeable future with a proximal tear of his right hamstring.
White Sox general manager Rick Hahn announced on Thursday afternoon that Madrigal will be shut down for a minimum of six weeks and said that while surgery is on the table, no decision has been made yet on the recovery plan for Madrigal.
Madrigal, 24, was slashing .305/.349/.425 with two home runs, 21 RBI, a 118 wRC+, and 1.4 fWAR through his first 215 plate appearances this season.
The press conference for Hahn was his third such press conference this season, with one for Eloy Jiménez coming back in March and one for Luis Robert in May.
Playoff Buzz at the Ballpark
Despite the news of Madrigal’s prognosis coming before Thursday night’s ballgame, the buzz of October was still in the air on Thursday night at the ballpark from the jump, thanks in part to a three-run first inning for the home team fueled by a Yermín Mercedes double, a Jose Abreu RBI, and a two-run home run by Yasmani Grandal, his tenth home run of the season.
Dallas Keuchel put on one of his better performances this season by holding a very potent Toronto offense to just two runs on six hits over six innings of work while striking out eight. Keuchel picked up the victory and moved to 5-1 on the season while bringing his ERA down to 4.14.
The stadium, even at a limited capacity, was electric. The left-field bleachers were rocking and drawing the attention of Leury Garcia and Adam Engel in the latter innings in between pitches. I can only imagine the buzz in the ballpark as the season progresses and the crowds return to 100 percent capacity.
Lock-Down Liam
Liam Hendriks retired the Blue Jays in the ninth inning on Thursday night, notching his 16th save of the season.
Hendriks has been showing everyone why he became a $54 million man this winter lately, mowing down 26 of the last 28 batters faced (14 via the strikeout). Hendriks is currently riding a streak of 17 consecutive innings (19 appearances) without an earned run allowed.
Yasmani is Cooking
Yasmani Grandal’s first-inning home run was his 10th of the season and his fourth in his last seven games. Grandal is slashing .300/.481/.900 with a 1.381 OPS over his last seven games.
On Deck
It’s off to Detroit for a weekend series with the Tigers before the Sox return home on Monday to host Tampa Bay. Lucas Giolito (5-5, 3.88), Dylan Cease (4-2, 3.36), and Carlos Rodón (5-2, 1.96) are slated to start this weekend against Detroit.
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