Levine: Beckham Injury Clouds Opening Day Lineup
By Bruce Levine-
GLENDALE, Ariz. (CBS) -- The fate of Gordon Beckham starting the season in the Sox lineup is only a guess at this point. Beckham injured an oblique side muscle during a round of batting practice on Friday. The freak injury just adds to the frustration for the 27-year-old second baseman who missed more than 50 games with two separate injuries in 2013.
The White Sox medical and training staff advised that Beckham does not do any baseball activity for seven days. That will give Beckham only a week to get ready for the season if he is cleared to resume full scale baseball drills.
"Right now we will shut him down for seven days before we test anything again," said Robin Ventura. "Those (injuries) are always tricky and you don't want them to linger around. If he hasn't done anything after that point you can assume that(opening day DL)."
Ventura said if Beckham can't go, the likelihood of Marcus Semien playing second base is there. The fortunes of third base candidate Matt Davidson making the team also improved with the Beckham oblique strain.
"His defense has been coming along great," said Ventura. "He wishes he was hitting better but that is coming along too. There are always tough decisions (on cuts)."
Beckham had a Hamate injury (small bone in hand breaks) that required surgery in April of 2013 and missed six weeks. He missed five games with a wrist injury in July and numerous games with a quad injury the last six weeks of the season.