White Sox Tilson hopes to return next week

Outfielder has been out with stress reaction in foot

February 23rd, 2017

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Charlie Tilson and stand as the White Sox main injury concerns as Saturday's Cactus League opener approaches.
Tilson, who has been rehabbing following surgery to repair a torn left hamstring suffered last August in Detroit, has been sidelined during Spring Training by a stress reaction in his right foot. The left-handed-hitting center fielder is on Day 5 of what he believes will be a 10-day to two-week absence.
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"I'm doing everything I can just to try to stay busy and locked in mentally. Doing a really good job of that, I think," Tilson said. "It's a minor setback, but no surprise given the operation I had a short time ago.
"All you can do is move forward. Nobody wants to be in the big leagues more than me. Believe that, and I'm doing everything I can to be there."
Before this setback, Tilson was looking at getting everything up to game speed as possibly being the final step in his recovery. The worst-case scenario would have Tilson starting the season on the disabled list but certainly not removed from the big league picture.

"Objectively, your heart goes out to the kid," said White Sox general manager Rick Hahn of Tilson, who hopes to start swinging the bat in the next couple days. "Every young player who is given a potential opportunity to play regularly in the big leagues wants to seize that opportunity.
"Add to it getting hurt in his first game at the big league level and the anxiousness that compounds in terms of wanting to get back out there. You add to the fact that this is his hometown and the team he grew up rooting for, which increased the desire to get out there and represent and show what you can do.
"It's not just the physical side," Hahn added. "We are going to have to work on the psychological side if it gets to the point where we need to slow this down a couple of weeks into the season."
Meanwhile, Frazier has been slowed by what he described as a left oblique strain. Both Frazier and White Sox manager Rick Renteria said the third baseman felt good Thursday.
"Right now it's just a mild soreness," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "So we're not concerned about it too much."