Handling Sox with care

Thome, other players on the mend, won't be rushed in camp

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...ack=1&cset=true

With the start of the 2006 regular season more than two months away, the White Sox aren't about to rush several core players recovering from injuries when spring training workouts start Feb. 18 in Tucson, Ariz.

 

Jim Thome, the Sox's biggest off-season acquisition, is hitting and throwing four times a week after recovering from right elbow and lower back injuries that limited him to 59 games with Philadelphia last season.

 

Thome, 35, already has received permission to report with the pitchers and catchers to Tucson Electric Park. He should be ready to hit and throw daily when the Sox open Cactus League play March 1, but trainer Herm Schneider prefers to bring Thome along gradually to help ensure a full recovery.

 

In addition, speedy leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik and right fielder Jermaine Dye each are recovering from hernia operations, and Podsednik could have his workouts modified when spring training begins.

 

Podsednik and the Sox believe his hernia could have caused his left groin problems that forced him to miss the final two weeks of August as well as significantly reduced his stolen base total in the season's second half.

 

Third baseman Joe Crede and reliever Dustin Hermanson have recovered nicely from lower back problems, thanks to off-season workouts. But Hermanson hasn't started throwing after recently returning from a vacation in Jamaica.

 

Brian Anderson, who is scheduled to take over for the departed Aaron Rowand in center field, is working out without limitations after having a plate removed from his right wrist last November.

 

The Sox are keeping a close watch on Thome, who was scheduled to arrive in Chicago on Tuesday night and attend this weekend's SoxFest.

 

"We don't want to rush him," Schneider said of Thome, who averaged 30 or more home runs in nine consecutive seasons before 2005. "He'll jump to hitting five times a week, then go to six. He's going to hit more regularly.

 

"The elbow is the issue. He does a great job of taking care of his back."

 

Thome hasn't played in a game since June 30 because of a frayed tendon in his elbow that was repaired on Aug. 15.

 

Podsednik's ailment was described as a sports hernia. He stole only seven bases in the final two months of the regular season and was successful on only nine of his final 23 attempts after stealing 22 straight bases.

 

Podsednik recently received treatment in Dallas and was given medication to alleviate discomfort.

 

"We might take it easy on Podsednik," Schneider said. "His major tool is speed. But [Dye] is feeling fine."

 

The Sox would like Hermanson to start throwing soon. He didn't allow a run in his first 21 innings of the 2005 season—a franchise record—during the first two months.

 

But lower back problems surfaced, and the Sox had to rely on rookie Bobby Jenks to handle the closer duties because of Hermanson's discomfort.

But Hermanson hasn't started throwing after recently returning from a vacation in Jamaica.

 

I wonder what he was doing down there?

I wonder what he was doing down there?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Grooming his goatee?

Grooming his goatee? 

Love brush!

I agree that they need to be most cautious with Podsednik.

Very nice to read all the positive reports on these guys, though.

I am SO ready for Spring Training to get going!!!

DEFEND OR DIE TRYING!!!!

Pods better be careful and not pull anything on his wedding night right before ST. He's getting married on February 4 to the one and only Lisa Dergan....

 

White Sox outfielder Scott Podsednik is scheduled to marry his longtime girlfriend and former Playboy model Lisa Dergan on Feb. 4 in Arizona. Podsednik waited until the postseason to hit his first home run last year. He is telling friends that his next home run will be his wedding day. …

Edited January 26, 200620 yr by robinventura23