Carlos Quentin will rejoin the White Sox on Friday in Kansas City, but he won’t be allowed to take batting practice for a while.
An examination Wednesday revealed the fracture in Quentin’s right wrist was aligned but, as expected, hadn’t healed fully. Quentin fractured the wrist 2 1/2 weeks ago but has been cleared to start range-of-motion exercises and will be allowed to swing a bat Friday.
Quentin’s work will stop if he feels any pain or discomfort. A screw was inserted into his wrist during surgery Sept. 8.
“I don’t want to rush this kid, and all of a sudden we lose him for maybe another month,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “But we have to take the thing easy. He will make the call when he can come back or not. I want to see what he says, how he does and how he feels, and then we see what we’re going to do.”
Quentin, who leads the Sox with 36 home runs and 100 RBIs despite not playing since Sept. 1, probably won’t return unless the Sox reach the playoffs.
Fresh for the stretch
Closer Bobby Jenks already has been assured of making his fewest appearances in a full season.
Jenks pitched in only 53 of the Sox’s first 150 games, which he believes will keep him strong down the stretch.
“Physically, I feel good,” said Jenks, who pitched in 67 games in 2006 and 66 in 2008. “This time of year we’re fighting every day to get to the postseason, so we have to do whatever we can.”
Jenks said some of his workload has been reduced by games in which the Sox added insurance runs in the eighth inning so it wasn’t necessary for him to pitch the ninth.
He believes that has saved him at least 12 innings.
