Tim Anderson injury update isn’t worst-case for White Sox, but still isn’t good

Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson is expected to miss several weeks with a sprained left knee. In the meantime, the Sox have a replacement.

Tim Anderson collided near the third-base line against the Minnesota Twins on Monday. While Anderson felt he could play through it, the training staff thought differently, pulling him from the game entirely.

It turns out that was the right call.

“He felt a little bit of pain when it happened,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol told reporters after the game. “He felt like he could play through it, and it stiffened up on him a little bit.”

Anderson is now expected to miss 2-to-4 weeks, per the team. Lenyn Sosa was called up to take his roster spot.

White Sox: Who will replace Tim Anderson?

It’s no secret that Chicago will struggle without Tim Anderson. He’s one of the best shortstops in baseball, and was off to a solid start in 2023 with a .298 batting average and .731 OPS. Anderson was visibly frustrated after the game, as Chicago has dealt with injury issues for much of the past two seasons. Last year, they disappointed their fanbase by missing the postseason.

This year was supposed to be different.

“It’s so frustrating,” Anderson said, per The Athletic. “I tried to prevent it. You can’t control it. You can’t control injury. But it definitely sucks because I know that I was doing everything I could. Everybody in the organization knows I was doing everything I could to try to stay healthy, and it just didn’t work out that way.”

Sosa was on fire in Triple-A Charlotte, slashing .448/.556/.828 in 9 games. Expect the veteran Elvis Andrus to step in for Anderson in the meantime, with Sosa and Romy Gonzalez backing him up at a premium position.