When White Sox camp opened Saturday, general manager Ken Williams said he didn’t want to hear any mention of the “I” word.
Williams was referring to injuries, a plague that hit the Sox early and often last season.
But on the fifth day of camp Wednesday, left-handed reliever Kelly Wunsch became the first Sox player to be carted off the field, sustaining a moderate hamstring strain that may sideline him for a few days–or a few weeks–depending on his recovery.
Wunsch, who is coming off surgery to repair a torn left labrum, was hurt during a fielding drill in which pitchers cover the plate after a wild pitch. He was unable to walk immediately and had to be carted off on a truck. Wunsch was limping later in the clubhouse and said the injury wasn’t as bad as it looked.
Trainer Herm Schneider iced down the right hamstring and put Wunsch on anti-inflammatory medicine. Wunsch looked worried but insisted he wasn’t.
“[Schneider] is notoriously adept at curing hamstring pulls,” Wunsch said. “Really, this doesn’t concern me. I’m ticked off it had to happen. I don’t want to get a reputation as someone who gets hurt a lot. It was just a freakish thing. I could tell my hamstring has been kind of tight the last couple of days.”
The Sox don’t have another left-hander with major-league credentials to take Wunsch’s place in the bullpen, but manager Jerry Manuel said Wunsch will be fine.
“I don’t think it will be anything to hinder him from starting the season,” Manuel said.
Sticking with Carlos: Left fielder Carlos Lee hit only .228 after the All-Star break last season and regressed in the outfield, committing eight errors. But Manuel said Lee won’t enter camp fighting for his starting job.
“We have a plan and a program for Carlos,” Manuel said. “[Coach] Gary Pettis will be almost like a private tutor for him to help him defensively. We watched some films during the winter to identify some of the mistakes he made in his mechanics. I believe he’s going to get back to the hitter that we all think he can be. Last year he surprisingly didn’t evolve as we anticipated. We expected him to be kind of on the same track that Magglio [Ordonez] was on.
“He struggled somewhat but still wound up hitting 24 home runs and is a very young player. It’s going to be a big year for him.”
Canseco update: Manuel was happy to hear former Sox DH Jose Canseco signed a minor-league contract with Montreal. Canseco pleaded with Manuel last summer to let him play in the outfield, but Manuel only let him do it for a couple of games in Milwaukee during interleague play. Now Canseco will get a chance to prove he still can play the outfield without any major mishaps.
“I want you guys to go to Montreal, so you can ask, `Jose, what happened on that fly ball?'” Manuel said.
Dullsville: Sox camp has been lacking in controversy so far, a complete reversal from 2001.
Speaking of which, Frank Thomas is expected to report on Thursday with the rest of the position players.
