Doesn’t look like Trayce Thompson’s 2016 audition, which has gone very well, will be disrupted for too long.
Though the White Sox rookie didn’t swing a bat on Tuesday, he’s confident his hyperextended left elbow would only keep him out of action for a brief period.
Given how Thompson felt when he landed on his elbow in the ninth inning of Monday’s game, an injury that required an X-ray (it was negative), both he and the club feel fortunate things aren’t worse. Wearing a protective sleeve, Thompson reported he can already move around the afflicted elbow and that it had improved.
“It was feeling a little better,” Thompson said. “Last night it was stiff and this morning it stiffened up a little bit, but I have been here and done some stuff, done some treatment with Herm (Schneider) and it’s been feeling a lot better.”
Thompson has been a pleasant surprise this season as he has hit considerably more than scoutsprojected and even the White Sox could have predicted. Through 66 plate appearances, Thompson carries a .377/.424/.689 slash line with four home runs and 13 RBIs.
[NBC SHOP: Gear up, White Sox fans!]
While the six-week run has been extremely impressive, manager Robin Ventura isn’t certain it would win Thompson a starting job in 2016. But, it has made the White Sox believers in Thompson’s ability.
MLB
“I don’t know if that is (enough time) but you know he’s a big league player,” Ventura said. “The more reps he gets and the more time you’re going to get a better understanding of that but right now, from what we’ve seen the last few years to five months ago, he’s a better player and I think he’s a big league player.”
Though the spotlight has been pointed in his direction the past six weeks, Thompson has tried not to get too caught up in the attention. He said he doesn’t worry about the big picture and focuses as much on his mistakes as his successes.
“It’s a very humbling game so you just have to be the same guy every day,” Thompson said. “That’s something I take pride in. Nobody is perfect and that’s what we all strive to be personality-wise in this game to take the highs with the highs and the lows with the lows and just try to be the same guy all the time. I struggled just as much in the minor leagues as any guy in here so I think that has helped me a lot.”