CHICAGO -- Right-handed pitcher Dylan Covey returns to the White Sox rotation in place of Carlos Rodón, with the left-hander being placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday due to left elbow inflammation.

Rodon's injury could result in Tommy John surgery, with general manager Rick Hahn and Rodon mentioning everything was on the table at this point. Hahn expects Covey, Manny Banuelos, Ivan Nova, Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito to do the job as the new rotation, despite the staff’s April inconsistency, but he wouldn’t rule out going outside the organization for a settling addition.

“We'll rely on the five that are here right now, and we've had some conversations about other guys in the organization that might need to step in on occasion,” Hahn said. “Look, we may need to go outside a little bit and patch this thing on the fly.

“You've seen that happen before. It certainly isn't our preference. We'd like to see the five we have here now go on a nice, sustainable run for the foreseeable future, and then some of the young guys force their way here. That's the ideal plan.”

As for Dylan Cease, the No. 20 overall prospect per MLB Pipeline, his 11 strikeouts over six innings during his last start against Triple-A Gwinnett won’t rush the talented right-hander to the Majors.

“No one is going to be promoted to Chicago simply because there's a need in Chicago, but because it's the best next step in their development,” Hahn said. “Dylan's timeline is not in any way affected by anything that happens with Carlos. It's only going to be affected by what happens with Dylan.”

Jimenez making great strides

Eloy Jiménez hit off of a tee Wednesday and did so again Thursday, making significant progress in his recovery from a high right ankle sprain sustained in the third inning of Friday’s victory over the Tigers and putting him on the injured list this past Sunday.

“Our hope is, perhaps in the next week or so, we might be able to get him out on a rehab assignment and have him return soon thereafter,” Hahn said. “He’s coming along nicely.”

The White Sox originally stated they would re-evaluate Jimenez after two weeks.

“It wasn't necessarily going to be a path back to the active roster after two weeks,” Hahn said. “It could take four or even six at that point.

“Thus far, he's responded really well. At that two-week mark, we may well be able to tell you he's headed out on a rehab assignment, which would be real progress. The first seven days or 10 days of this thing has been fairly positive. It's good to be 22 sometimes.”

They said it

“Going back to [White Sox director of player development Chris Getz] the other day, he said something along the lines of he didn't know if he was a genius or an idiot for making him go to the Carolina League based on how he's performing.” -- Hahn, on Luis Robert’s great start with Class A Advanced Winston-Salem and promotion to Double-A Birmingham

“The summer in Chicago is beautiful. It's going to be a heck of a summer if I just continue to do what I've been doing and keep having fun. The rest will take care of itself.” -- Shortstop Tim Anderson, on winning the American League Player of the Month for April while playing in Chicago’s cold conditions