GLENDALE, Ariz. — Six days after getting hit by a pitch and suffering a non-displaced bone fracture in his right hand, White Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi on Wednesday was not ruling out a return by Opening Day on March 27.
It’s an optimistic goal but it’s too soon to rule it out, Benintendi said Wednesday.
“We’ll get it re-imaged here soon, see how it’s healing up and go from there,” said Benintendi, who has been working out and receiving bone stimulation treatment.
Benintendi says he wouldn’t need a lot of at-bats to be ready.
“If it were up to me, probably five,” he said.
The Sox will likely want him to have more, but “you get a lot of at-bats in spring to work out timing and things like that,” he said. “That part will be sped up, but we do it all the time, swinging and facing guys. Enough to be able to go up there and put good at-bats together.”
Manager Will Venable said Joey Gallo, Cal Mitchell and Josh Rojas will continue to get work in left field.
“We really are not changing the formula and how we are exposing these guys to different positions,” Venable said before the game Wednesday.
Benintendi was originally expected to miss four to six weeks after getting hit in the right hand by a pitch Feb. 27, suffering a non-displaced fracture.
The injury came as Benintendi entered camp after he batted .263/.328/.502 with 13 home runs, 12 doubles and 38 RBI in the second half of 2024 after he found a toe tap that to his liking.
Mr. Spring
Right-hander Steven Wilson hasn’t allowed a run in his last 11 innings of Cactus League games, tossing nine scoreless innings in 2024 and opening this spring with three scoreless, hitless outings with four strikeouts.
“Well now you ruined it,’’ he joked when reminded of the “streak.”
The major-leaguer acquired with three prospects from the Padres in the Dylan Cease trade last spring, Wilson posted a 5.71 ERA in 40 appearances last season after pitching to a 3.48 ERA in 102 games between 2023-24 for the Padres.
Wilson said his mechanics got out of whack last season and he “wasn’t himself all last year.”
He returned to the old ways this offseason.
“I didn’t hit 95 [mph] till about June last year and I’m hitting 95 this spring, so we’re in a good spot,” he said.
He is aiming to make his fourth straight Opening Day roster.
“That’s for them to decide,” he said. “We’ll just keep getting guys out and see what happens.”
‘Frustrating’ setback for Slater
Outfielder Austin Slater, who is being counted on in the outfield mix after signing a $1.75 million contract in the offseason, deferred to the Sox for a timeline for a return from a left oblique strain, but is hopeful about being ready for Opening Day in three weeks.
“It’s more frustrating with the things I was working on in the cage and starting to feel like I was getting dialed in there,” said Slater, who is coming off the worst season of his eight-year career. “Take a little time off and get back after it. You never want to have that happen in the spring.”
Slater batted .209/.321/.266 between the Reds, Giants and Orioles in 84 games last season.