Nick Madrigal Recovers From Early Injury

Stockpiling talented prospects hasn’t been the problem for the White Sox.

First-round draft pick Nick Madrigal is the latest skilled young player to join the organization, and Chicago hopes the 21-year-old second baseman stays healthy.

That has been the problem.

“It’s been a tough year from a health standpoint.” general manager Rick Hahn said.

Madrigal was shut down for a week with a strained hamstring after signing and reporting to the Rookie-level Arizona League. The No. 4 overall pick was dealing with the injury while helping Oregon State win the College World Series, but he is fully recovered and had reached low Class A Kannapolis.

The White Sox are dealing with much tougher news on other prospects.

High Class A Winston-Salem outfielder Luis Robert was sidelined with another left thumb injury and isn’t expected back until the beginning of August at the earliest. The 20-year-old missed the first two months of the season with the same injury before joining Kannapolis and quickly moving up to the Carolina League.

Righthander Dane Dunning, who went 6-3, 2.71 in 15 starts with Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham, was out until at least mid-August with a moderate elbow sprain.

The White Sox are hopeful Dunning will be able to avoid Tommy John surgery, but they did lose Winston-Salem outfielder Micker Adolfo for the season with the same injury. In spring training, Adolfo injured his right elbow, but he was still able to swing the bat with no pain, so he appeared in the Dash lineup at DH.

Adolfo started a throwing program in June, but the 21-year-old suffered another setback and had Tommy John surgery.

“Obviously, not great news for Micker,” Hahn said, “but going back to spring training we were concerned he was going to end up missing the entire year. At least this way, Micker was able to get more than 300 plate appearances at Winston-Salem, and he had a very solid year from a development standpoint.”

CHI-LITES

** Righthander Spencer Adams, the 2014 second-rounder out of high school, was making a strong push for a September callup. After opening the season with Birmingham, he advanced to Triple-A Charlotte and recorded a 3.32 ERA through seven starts.

** The White Sox optioned outfielder Charlie Tilson back to Charlotte during the all-star break. He batted .264/.331/.292 in 41 games with Chicago.