(670 The Score) White Sox second baseman Nick Madrigal is on track to be fully ready for Opening Day after undergoing left shoulder surgery last October.
Madrigal is expected to be close to fully healthy in mid-February when spring training starts or shortly thereafter, assistant general manager Jeremy Haber said on Inside the Clubhouse on Saturday morning. Madrigal separated his shoulder while sliding into third base in early August.
“He’s been progressing on the normal course,” Haber said. “We don’t see him being limited coming spring training and Opening Day.”
Madrigal, who turns 24 in March, started light baseball activities in Arizona in early January, MLB.com previously reported. He .340 with no homers, 11 RBIs and a .745 OPS in 29 games in his debut season in 2020.
“I don’t think there’s anyway to look at it other than an overwhelming success,” Haber said of Madrigal’s first season. “You’re talking about a guy who beat his entire draft class to the big leagues in no small part because of the unique skills that he has. Like we talked about, we knew if we put him on that path that there was going to be an adjustment period. But to come in and have the impact that he did, to make adjustments at the big league level – which is something that all younger top prospects have to make – only further our confidence that he’s the player we scouted and drafted.”