Notes from scrums about White Sox injuries

TEMPE, Ariz. -- "It's not the end of the world, but it sucks."

As widely applicable as such a phrase seems, it was just Andrew Benintendi discussing the fracture below his right pinky, which everyone can agree should knock him out for all of spring training, a time used for "trying to feel out timing and get some looks at guys."

It's the four-to-six week timeline for Benintendi's absence where some disagreements enter in. Despite the tone with which team operations are usually discussed by the public at large, White Sox players tend to approach their affairs with maximum ambition. So rather than viewing 2025 as a pointless season where nothing could possibly be accomplished, Benintendi is gunning to beat even the low side of his rehabilitation timeline and play on Opening Day, which would be a month -- to the day -- from his injury.

"Even today I feel like I can make a fist and grab but you have to let the bone heal," Benintendi said. "Hopefully it’s less than four weeks. I’m sure I’ll talk to them today and we’ll come up with a plan and see what happens. I want to be out there by Opening Day, but time will tell."

Even the less aggressive voices in the room aren't dismissing Benintendi's ambitions out of hand.

"Lenyn Sosa had a similar injury in winter ball and he bounced back pretty quickly," said Chris Getz. "We’ll X-ray it to see how it’s healing, and if it is healing you can get pretty aggressive with these things, but safely. Conservatively speaking, [returning by Opening Day] could be a little quick."

Dominic Fletcher was previously walled off from the roster by five outfielders being on guaranteed contracts, despite being the primary right fielder this time last year. Joey Gallo and Brandon Drury are both largely in camp as infielders but have enough outfield experience to be considered as effective replacements for Benintendi, and there's enough defensive utility in the remaining set of established outfielders that most any roster permutation is possible. For his part, Getz certainly wasn't going to eliminate any scenarios before the start of March.

"We’ve got a lot of people in camp, both non-roster and on roster that we’ll take a long look at," Getz said, who said the White Sox could also peruse late-spring cuts from other team's camps. "We have players that have outs in their contracts with other organizations, and roster decisions are going to be made Opening Day, a guy might get squeezed off a roster."

It's a case of reader's choice if you want to be encouraged or discouraged by Colson Montgomery noting that the back spasm he felt in batting practice on Thursday is something he's played through before. The optimistic view is that this ailment is something that wouldn't have spilled into public view at another time of year.

"I was hitting in the stadium and I just had one swing where it kind of just tightened up a little bit, and Marcus [Thames] noticed it, and he was like, ‘It’s Feb. 27, just shut it down and do what you need to get right.’" Montgomery said. "I want to give credit to Tristan [Gray]. Late call to be a starter and he came out, got a hit, had some good defensive plays and got the win. Shows a lot about who he is."

It's supposed to be a few days before Montgomery is in a Cactus League game again, but he was able to do core exercises on Friday and claims to feel a lot better already after being locked up for all of his 23rd birthday. While much of the White Sox future hinges on a 6-foot-5-inch man playing a position where he has to bend down a lot, Getz is not talking about this incident as reason for long-term concern.

"Not necessarily an injury but something that can pop up with anyone, certainly in spring training with everyone getting reacclimated with playing," Getz said. "Not a concern. You’re always monitoring workloads for players in spring training and season. If you feel you’re getting sore for whatever reason you can alter some things, can be amount of ground balls, swings, just what you’re doing post workout. There are a lot of different things that go into it."

-- Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz are both scheduled for at least one more Cactus League outing.

-- Getz sidestepped a question on whether Bryan Ramos needs to be healthy enough to play the field to be on an active roster by Opening Day, but said the third baseman is set to begin a throwing program soon.

-- There's no update yet on Prelander Berroa's timeline, as Getz said, "It’s going to take a little bit of time to know what the next step is."

-- If the White Sox trade Luis Robert Jr. before the season begins, we won't be able to say that Getz foreshadowed such a move on Feb. 28.

"Business as usual," Getz said. "We want Luis to have the best year that he’s had in a White Sox uniform and that starts with being on the field on a regular basis. Our focus is making sure he feels good on a regular basis. We know what he’s capable of doing. I know he is working very closely with our hitting coaches and training staff, he seems to be in a really good place and I look forward to what I believe is going to be a real productive season for Luis."

First Pitch: White Sox at Angels

TV: MLB.TV - FanDuel Sports West

Lineups: