Infielder Miguel Vargas can breathe a sigh of relief.
He went on the injured list Friday with a sprained left hand suffered a night earlier when Yankees slugger Aaron Judge ran into Vargas’ glove on his way to first base.
But given how Vargas immediately fell to the ground in a lot of pain, the news the White Sox received was good. Manager Will Venable suggested that Vargas’ stay on the IL might not last much longer than the standard 10 days.
“We’re hopeful that after his 10 days, he’s close and has progressed to the point where we can activate him,” Venable said. “It looked serious. I think it was serious, [though] obviously not to the point that he broke it. . . . We’re happy with the result.”
Vargas’ injury came a day after center fielder Luis Robert Jr. hit the injured list with a strained left hamstring, which could knock him out for the rest of the season. The Sox, however, won’t be forced to limp to the end of 2025 without both hitters.
“I guess it’s good news,” Vargas said. “It feels way better than last night. Hopefully next week, I’ll be able to swing and move, back [to normal].”
Vargas seemed understandably down Thursday after the game, in which he hit a grand slam before leaving with the hand injury. But he was obviously relieved by Friday afternoon.
“I prayed for it to not have anything broken and to be able to be here,” Vargas said. “Hopefully, I’ll be back soon.”
Vargas will have the opportunity to continue what has been a bounce-back season. He has a .719 OPS and 14 home runs in 121 games after batting only .104 in 42 games after his arrival in a trade-deadline deal last summer.
The improvements at the plate and defensively have vaulted him into the Sox’ budding core of position players as general manager Chris Getz’s rebuild marches on.
“It’s my first full season in the big leagues,” Vargas said. “It’s a lot of ups and downs, a lot of emotions. For me, it’s been a great run, especially with this group. I cannot be more proud of a group than this one.
“I said early in the season that we have to learn, we have to figure out how we can get results and win games. We’ve handled it the way we wanted, and we’ve been consistent with it, and you can see it in the field.”
Tough times for Taylor
Rookie reliever Grant Taylor’s sour stretch continued in the Sox’ 10-2 loss to the Yankees on Friday.
He faced four batters and got no outs, walked two and gave up two RBI singles. Taylor allowed three runs and saw his ERA inflate to 24.55 over his last five appearances.
A 2023 second-round pick who has a 6.51 ERA on the season, Taylor followed a shaky start by right-hander Yoendrys Gomez, who walked six and allowed five runs, four of them scoring on a grand slam in the fourth inning.
“[Taylor is] just struggling with his stuff,” Venable said. “Obviously, the command is a big thing for him, just being in the zone. He’s got such good stuff. If he throws strikes, he’s going to be effective. When he doesn’t have his command, we see what happens.”