The fan who was injured by a foul ball Monday at Guaranteed Rate Field has been released from the hospital and was well enough to pick up her vehicle Tuesday, the White Sox said.
The woman sitting behind the tarp just beyond the third base dugout several rows from the field was struck by a hard liner off the bat of Eloy Jimenez. The extent of the injury is not known, but the sight of her walking out while holding a bloody towel to her head sparked more discussion and calls for additional protective netting at ballparks.
The netting at Guaranteed Rate Field extends to the ends of the dugouts. All 30 teams expanded their netting to at least that distance in 2018 after several fans were injured by foul balls in 2017.
“As an industry all of baseball will continue to take a look at it,” Sox vice president of communications Scott Reifert said Tuesday. “We really do every year. It’s not a decision that will be made quickly but it’s something baseball as an industry will continue to look at.”
In perhaps the scariest incident this season, a young girl was struck by a foul ball off the bat of the Cubs’ Albert Almora on May 29 at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
“The security and safety of our fans is important,” Reifert said. “We made the steps we did. There are a lot of seats behind nettings where if people are coming with young kids or it’s an important concern of theirs, they should absolutely at the ticket windows ask and we’ll accommodate them as best we can with seats they know will be protected.”
Reifert said the Sox reached out to the woman but had not heard back.
Moncada out
Yoan Moncada, who left the game Monday with what manager Rick Renteria called a mild mid-back/lat strain, was out Tuesday and will be re-evaluated Thursday.
“Fortunately we don’t see it as being something big or significant,” Renteria said.
Moncada, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games, was initially hurt on a swing, Renteria said.
Another start for Despaigne
Odrisamer Despaigne, who pitched six innings of three-run ball in his Sox debut Monday against the Nationals, will make his second start Sunday when the Sox close out a four-game series against the Yankees. Ivan Nova, Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez are lined up Thursday through Saturday.
This and that
Second baseman Nick Madrigal, who had eight hits in his first at-bats after his recent promotion to Class AA Birmingham, will be one of six players from Class A Winston-Salem at the Carolina League All-Star Classic next Tuesday. Madrigal was the No. 4 overall pick last season.
• Third baseman DJ Gladney, a product of the Sox’ ACE program and Illiana Christian High School whom the Sox drafted in the 16th round, signed for $225,000.
• Jim Thome and Dennis Martinez were named managers for the Futures Game on July 7 at Progressive Field. For the first time, the game will feature an American League vs. National League game, not the U.S. vs. World format. Thome, a Sox player from 2006-09 and now a special assistant to general manager Rick Hahn, will manage the AL team.