CHICAGO -- Micker Adolfo tries not to play the "what if" game.

The last five seasons for the No. 11 White Sox prospect per MLB Pipeline have been hampered at some level by injury, but the 6-foot-4, 255-pound power-packed outfielder believes a master plan eventually plays out for the best beyond those painful pitfalls. It’s a “just because God delays does not mean God denies” type of attitude.

But if we return to early May, when Adolfo underwent arthroscopic surgery to clean up his right elbow following Tommy John surgery the previous July, that upbeat demeanor temporarily disappeared.

“I’m not going to lie. I was really upset,” Adolfo told MLB.com during a recent phone interview from Arizona, where he’s participating in the Fall League. “I kind of just went M-I-A from everyone. I just wanted to be alone.

“I was just really hurt by it. I didn’t feel good. I wasn’t in a good state of mind. I was really sad. I couldn’t understand why it kept happening to me. All I wanted to do is be healthy to play.”

Along with the two elbow surgeries, Adolfo missed time from April 8-14 in 2017 due to a bruised right hand and then had his season come to an end on Aug. 23 due to a fractured left hand. In '16, a fractured left hamate bone knocked out Adolfo from May 4 to June 24, and then a sprained left ankle shut him down from Aug. 18-26.

Even in 2015, Adolfo suffered a season-ending fractured left fibula when sliding into second base during a game for the Arizona Rookie League White Sox on Aug. 5. It’s easy to see how the 23-year-old Adolfo could get a little down when adding these all together.

Adolfo joined the organization as the No. 2 international prospect in 2013 and believes the Major Leagues would not have been out of the question at this point minus the injuries. But as Adolfo regains his arm strength and gets back in full playing rhythm, he’s not putting a timeline upon his arrival to join other top young White Sox talent such as Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert.

“I’ve never really been that kind of guy, and I kind of learned with everything I’ve been going through,” Adolfo said. “Before I used to have a lot of expectations, and when I wouldn’t meet those expectations, I feel like I failed.

“So, I’m trying not to have too many expectations. Just go out there and have fun and just play. I feel like if I do that, everything is going to fall into its natural order.”

As part of the Glendale Desert Dogs, Adolfo has four home runs in 50 at-bats. He homered 40 times over 364 previous Minor League games including 16 for Class A Kannapolis in 2017 and 11 for Class A Advanced Winston-Salem as a designated hitter in '18. Adolfo has 27 strikeouts for Glendale, while playing three games per week in the outfield and one at designated hitter.

Cole Armstrong, the hitting coach for Kannapolis this past season and Glendale’s hitting coach, stresses to Adolfo to relax, trust his ability and don’t be too hard on himself. Adolfo admits to having days where he felt as if he was playing catch-up, but shortly after his second elbow surgery Adolfo’s feelings began to change.

“After the first elbow surgery, I had horrible range of motion. I didn’t extend it too well, or flexion,” Adolfo said. “That’s what was limiting me from being able to throw and really swing it too good because I didn’t have that full extension. After they went in the second time and cleaned out the bone spurs and all that stuff, two days after surgery my arm was back to normal.

“I’m starting to feel like myself. I feel my arm strength is slowly starting to come back. I don’t feel 100 percent comfortable to let loose yet. Going into the offseason now and continue working and building. I need to try to let it all loose. I have to be ready for next year.”