This Week in White Sox Minor League Baseball

Unfortunately, this week injury news leads the way, with a lot of bad news coming out of Winston-Salem. Tim Anderson is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a fractured right wrist (throwing arm). No surgery is required. Scott Merkin reported that it was caused by a hit-by-pitch but Anderson did not have a HBP during the timeline Merkin provided.

Courtney Hawkins got a concussion after he crashed through the side wall while making a catch in left field and hit his head on the concrete. Despite the violent nature of his injury, Hawkins' injury is probably the least serious and I wouldn't expect him to miss much more than the minimum seven days.

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The other major injury is to Frank Montas. After getting a late start to the season due to surgery on his left knee to repair a meniscus tear, Montas pitched extremely well for the Dash. In ten starts, the righty threw 62 innings, gave up 45 hits, walked 14 and struck out 56. Now he's torn the meniscus in his other knee and needs surgery to repair it. The 21-year-old will rehab the knee for six weeks and then can resume throwing, which means he's probably out for the rest of the season but should be back in time to participate in the fall instructional league. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him in the Arizona Fall League, either.

Montas is not a small man and, as one might expect, high(er) body mass dramatically increases the risk of meniscal tears. He suffered this injury while doing his running conditioning but pitching certainly places a lot of stress on knees, particularly the plant leg's knee. Given his, shall we say, less than smooth delivery, the initial injury to his left knee was understandable and could have been chalked up as a "freak" injury. Tears in both knees suggest a more serious underlying cause and firmly places him in the injury-prone category. And knee problems ordinarily beget more knee problems. While his 2014 season suggested that he might profile as a starting pitcher, these durability concerns make it more likely that he'll end up in the bullpen.

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In better news, Tyler Danish came off the DL and threw 4.1 innings, gave up 1 run on 6 hits, walked 2, hit 1 batter and struck out 5 in his return. The 19-year-old got himself into trouble in the 5th by loading the bases but his pitch count didn't let him get out of it himself. However, his bullpen got the final two outs to bail him out.

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Notes:

• No one cares about Tyler Saladino. Well, no one except the fans, who voted him the starting shortstop in the Triple-A All-Star Game, which is on July 16 on MLB Network.
• The White Sox announced their July 2 international prospect signings. I discussed them here.
• Micah Johnson: .291/.323/.372 for Charlotte.
• Yesterday's game perhaps showed that another lefty in the bullpen could be helpful. The next guys on the minor league depth chart have both been out but Charlie Leesman and Frank De Los Santos are rehabbing in Arizona and are probably on track to be back in Charlotte after the All-Star break.