Sox lose another outfielder as Adam Eaton hits IL originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
HOUSTON — Another injury. Another strained hamstring. Another outfielder out of commission.
The Chicago White Sox have had this happen a lot.
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Adam Eaton became the team's latest victim of a strained hamstring Thursday, when he was placed on the 10-day injured list. The move is retroactive to June 15.
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Eaton has been bothered by what White Sox manager Tony La Russa referred to Wednesday as "leg miseries" throughout the course of the 2021 season, and he's been a less frequent participant in games of late.
After a hot start, Eaton has struggled at the plate in his second stint on the South Side and owns a .195/.296/.345 slash line.
The White Sox have been hammered by injuries this season, and hamstring injuries, in particular. Nick Madrigal is out for the year after tearing his hamstring. Michael Kopech is currently on the injured list with a hamstring strain. At various points throughout the season, Tim Anderson, Billy Hamilton and Adam Engel have all hit the injured list with the same injury.
Add Luis Robert's torn hip flexor to the mix, and it's been a bad year for the lower bodies of White Sox players. General manager Rick Hahn said just last week that the team is looking into the cause of all these leg and hamstring injuries.
Without Eaton, the White Sox outfield gets thinner still. Already without starting center fielder Robert and starting left fielder Eloy Jiménez, Eaton makes it all three projected starters in the outfield on the IL simultaneously. Hamilton, too, is on the injured list.
The White Sox have gotten boosts from Andrew Vaughn and the recently returned Engel, but La Russa has still been forced to call on a fleet of reserves to simply staff the outfield on a daily basis.
That job won't get any easier now that Eaton, too, is on the shelf.
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