All White Sox fans know the unfortunate story of 2017 first round pick, Jake Burger. Jake has ruptured his left Achilles twice and has been sidelined for almost a full year. GM Rich Hahn did say that Jake was going to return June 1st.
Jake Burger has a return set date of June first. #WhiteSox
— ✶ ✶Buzz✶ ✶ (@SMBuzzWeed) February 13, 2019
Jake has joined the team in Arizona, though he is still recovering from his Achilles injury he will not be apart of any MLB Spring Training games.
Jake Burger taking some flips with Eloy Jiménez and Micker Adolfo watching pic.twitter.com/U9Xi3Op5qY
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) February 13, 2019
Jake met with MLB.com to discuss where he is at in his recovery and this is what he had to say.
“I just feel like the ball is jumping off of my bat. I’m feeling really good,” Burger told MLB.com after his Wednesday workout. “Swing is feeling great. Really don’t think I’ve lost anything in that aspect. I think I’ve gained some stuff, too, learning the game a little more.”
Jake seems very confident with his bat and is very excited to be moving forward. General Manager Rick Hahn then added to Jake and the work he has been putting in.
“He could fall out of bed and hit. That was always the case with Jake Burger. He’s got a compact, powerful stroke that we really didn’t think he was going to lose because of the time off because of the Achilles.”
The June 1st return date could be moved back or moved forward, depending on Jakes progress, according to GM Rick Hahn. Rick did not say what affiliate Jake would go to, but one has to think it would be Kannapolis to work himself back in. Jake wants to come back strong and come back at 100%.
“Day by day, my body and my mind will tell me when I’m ready,” Burger said. “That’s the bottom line. I don’t want to come back and go into it at 80 percent. I want to be 100 percent mentally and physically.”
Hey look it’s Jake Burger and Nick Madrigal pic.twitter.com/t15k9OKXRG
— Vinnie Duber (@VinnieDuber) February 12, 2019
“We’ve still got work to do,” Burger said. “I feel like I’m setting myself up for success, hopefully, here in the next couple of months.”
Every Sox fan has to be pulling for this kid. Jake has shown he takes the game seriously and you can tell he wants to be a part of this exciting young core of players.
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