Jake Burger, the first-round pick of the White Sox in 2017, is expected to miss the entire 2018 season after rupturing the Achilles tendon in his left leg.
It was a rough day on the injury front for White Sox prospects. Not long after manager Rick Renteria revealed that Eloy Jimenez, the No. 4 prospect in baseball according to Baseball America, has a sore left knee, 2017 first-round draft pick Jake Burger suffered a left Achilles tendon injury during the Sox’s 7-6 victory over the Athletics on Monday at Camelback Ranch.
In the third inning, Burger sent a ground ball to third and got about three-quarters of the way to first base before crumpling to the ground. The Sox’s top pick (11th overall) in the ’17 draft eventually was helped up but didn’t put any weight on his left leg while being loaded onto a cart.
Burger will undergo surgery later this week to repair the injury. Burger is considered to be the White Sox's future third baseman, though he wasn't expected to make the roster this season.
This isn’t the first injury scare with a prospect this spring. Micker Adolfo had a UCL strain early in workouts this Spring, but it was discovered that surgery was not immediately necessary. That means the outfielder will be able to serve as a Designated Hitter in the minor leagues – likely Winston-Salem – for at least the first half of the season before another evaluation is made.
"When something like this happens, you have a decision to make," Burger told reporters while wearing a walking boot Tuesday morning. "You can either kind of mope around and be disappointed in it, or you can take it as a positive thing and look at it as a positive. It's kind of an extended offseason, you know?
"It [stinks], but I have to stay positive."
He’s the first Missouri State Bear to ever be drafted in the first round after hitting 43 homers in his final two years in college.
