As expected, Jake Burger officially came off the White Sox’ injured list Sunday, batting seventh and serving as the designated hitter in the series finale against the Astros.
Burger’s return adds options for manager Pedro Grifol and power to the Sox’ lineup, which he showed with his home run in the sixth inning after his single in the second.
‘‘It was good after having 10 days off to get back in and contribute any way I can,’’ Burger said.
Aside from being a DH, where he should get the bulk of his work with Eloy Jimenez out, Burger will play some third base when Yoan Moncada needs a day off. He also can play first.
Even though Elvis Andrus is on the IL, one place Burger shouldn’t be expected to play is second because of the limits on shifting and the additional demands on players at that position.
Grifol, however, didn’t quite rule it out.
‘‘In recent years, you can do some of those things and still cover a significant amount of territory on that side of the field,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘But the game has changed. We haven’t discussed [it]. That doesn’t mean we won’t, at some point, if we had to. But at this point, we haven’t discussed that.’’
The same goes for using Moncada at second, the position he played when he broke into the majors. There hasn’t been discussion of that, either, but Grifol said, ‘‘Things can change quickly.’’
In a move that corresponded to Burger’s return, the Sox optioned catcher Carlos Perez to Triple-A Charlotte, which is a good indication that Yasmani Grandal (hamstring) won’t need to go on the IL. Grandal didn’t start but was available off the bench Sunday and is expected to be back in the lineup Tuesday against the Guardians.
Perez went 1-for-4 in three games after his recall May 7.
What’s with Liam?
On Friday, rehabbing closer Liam Hendriks told media at Charlotte that the tentative plan was for him to pitch Sunday for the Knights, then again Tuesday or Wednesday before he and the Sox reassess his next steps.
But before the Sox’ game Sunday, Grifol said something different. He said Hendriks would pitch a ‘‘partial inning’’ to get an out or two and then see how he feels. Hendriks did that, throwing a third of an inning and striking out the only batter he faced.
‘‘We’ll talk to him after and see where we go from there,’’ Grifol said.
Pitch-clock blues
The Sox were dinged four times for pitch-clock violations by plate umpire Stu Scheurwater. Shortstop Tim Anderson and reliever Reynaldo Lopez were docked once each, and starter Lucas Giolito was penalized twice.
‘‘I wasn’t too happy about that,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘It didn’t really cost us, but it can. We [have to] clean that up.’’
One of Giolito’s infractions came before the top of the fifth, when he didn’t throw his last warmup pitch before 30 seconds remained on the clock to begin the inning. Giolito said he wasn’t aware of that rule and sounded as though he wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
‘‘Now I know I have to hurry up in the warmup pitches,’’ Giolito said.
In the fifth, Anderson was caught on the broadcast griping to Astros first baseman and former teammate Jose Abreu that he hates the pitch clock. Social-media sleuths mistakenly thought Anderson said, ‘‘I hate this place.’’
Astros second baseman David Hensley also was hit with a violation.
