White Sox swap out Jose Abreu for Adam Eaton
/Everyone seems to like Adam Eaton a lot. He's regularly referred to as the "catalyst" to the lineup, in a way that indicates that people think "catalyst" is a title like "Captain" or "Sanitation Technician." As he returns to the team Sunday from his hamstring injury after just two rehab games in Charlotte, he'll bring back a pestering presence to the top of the lineup, and someone who doesn't play outfield like a damn electric football figurine.
But he returns on the same day that Jose Abreu has been placed on the disabled list with tendinitis in his troublesome left ankle, so the end result is this day is terrible. The worst day. Go somewhere with your useless pep, Eaton. Go get on base and leave us to stew.
Abreu's ankle has bothered him pretty much for the last two months and he hasn't been able to play the field since the beginning of the Arizona series. There's a hint of inevitability to this move, but it doesn't look great that the Sox were contemplating giving him a day off during this week, never worked themselves up to do it, and are now forced to make the more severe move when things predictably deteriorated.
Optimistically, with Sale, Eaton,and now Abreu, the Sox aren't wasting time and roster space with too many multi-game or week-long absences. With the projections they have for their season, they should be liberally handing out two-week vacations, and they seem to be.
After moving past the immediate concerns of losing a lot of games over the next two weeks and the Sox being as fun to watch a riding mower stuck in a ditch, Abreu's absence and Eaton's return could bring some fun options to the lineup. "Fun" in this case means taking Dayan Viciedo out of the outfield when possible and shifting him into a DH-rotation with the part-time Paul Konerko. And Moises Sierra has taken some walks, but the idea of him not being an everyday feature is still a relief.
With Eaton back and Beckham functioning, that brings the count of full-time positional starters up and healthy to seven, which could be worse.
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