Report: Avisail Garcia and Matt Lindstrom to begin rehab assignments with Knights on Friday

According to a report by ESPN Chicago’s Doug Padilla, outfielder Avisail Garcia and reliever Matt Lindstrom are scheduled join the Knights this Friday to begin injury rehab assignments.

Garcia underwent shoulder surgery this past April and was originally thought to be out for the season, but has progressed faster than the White Sox had expected. According to Padilla, he’ll likely start a few games as a designated hitter before playing in the outfield.

  

“This rehab assignment is the next step in the process,” Rick Hahn told Padilla. “Getting (Garcia) in live game action on a consistent basis, not only to get him back to a playing standpoint he’s accustomed to, but also a physical standpoint. Making sure that he can withstand it and is physically able to perform at the big league level.  

“It certainly is done with the hope that the next stage is activation to the major league roster but, at the same time, as we’ve done for the past several months with his rehab, we’re going to respond to how he feels physically and how he is from a symptomatic standpoint and obviously err on the side of caution.” 

Lindstrom went under the knife this past May to correct an ankle issue and should only need a few appearances before rejoining the White Sox.

 “Part of it is going to be the lateral movement, getting off the mound, a lot of the drills (Lindstrom's) been put through and some of the things that were tested in the two simulated games he had,” Hahn told Padilla. “The arm strength, he’s been able to maintain that fairly decently through his layoff. But it is a matter of making sure the stuff and the arm strength is at the previous level before he’s activated.  

“We’re just going to have to react to what he shows during the assignment before bringing him back.”

Garcia was hitting .267 with two home runs and four RBI at the time of his injury. Lindstrom had six saves and a 3.32 ERA.