Konerko gets breather as he deals with back pain
CHICAGO -- Paul Konerko had an MRI on his sore lower right back Thursday, and then got six injections Friday in the painful area to potentially calm down the problem.
The captain wasn't scheduled to play in either of Friday's doubleheader contests against the Indians, marking the third and fourth straight games he would have missed. Konerko hoped to get back in action before the four-game weekend set was complete.
"I want to play Sunday, if not tomorrow, but I don't think that's going to happen," Konerko said. "I'd like to take some swings tomorrow and just get right back in it.
"We have a day off Monday, so if I was sore after Sunday, I'd have Monday to rest. But that's at least my goal. I don't know if it's realistic, but that's what I'm shooting for."
After receiving Friday's injections, Konerko said the recommendation was 48 hours of rest. But he quickly added that they would "play around with that" and see how he felt Saturday.
"I'm counting today because we're already on today, so I'm counting today as the first 24," Konerko said. "It was a weird thing. I played Sunday in Kansas City. It was a long, tough game, but there was nothing in that game that made me think I did anything to anything. It was just a game.
"Got up Monday morning and couldn't even erect myself, standing up tall for most of the day. The three days after that were pretty much the same. Just a lot of soreness, no stability, no ability to really move. Really, really bound up.
"Just kind of came out of nowhere. Felt a little improvement Thursday and more today, but not enough where I can play tonight. These injections, I actually kind of had them back in '06 when I had a little bit of a back problem then and they seemed to help out then."
White Sox manager Robin Ventura listed Konerko as day to day before Konerko spoke to the media, but the first baseman admitted that if the pain continues, a trip to the disabled list could be possible.
"If I do get to swing a bat tomorrow or test it out, I'd think at that point I would know, just knowing what you need when you go out there to play, to be honest with them," said Konerko, who is batting .378 over his last 10 games. "If I couldn't do it, I don't want to hold them up. I don't want to be holding the team hostage with one less guy, but we'll see. I haven't tested it really at all.
"But I'll be honest with them and let them really know. If that's what needs to be done, that's what needs to be done, but I don't want to do that. I want to try and stay away from that."