GLENDALE, Ariz. — Adam Eaton is headed to the outfield confident in his throwing shoulder and ahead of schedule.
The White Sox leadoff hitter is set to make his first appearance of the spring in the field on Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Eaton, who had nerve decompression surgery in October, is starting in left field.
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The White Sox had earlier identified next Wednesday as when Eaton would return to the outfield. He has spent the entire spring strengthening the shoulder and said late last month he had no doubt he’d be ready for Opening Day.
“I have more confidence than I ever have been with my shoulder and my arm because I’ve thrown so much,” Eaton said. “We probably could have played a week or two ago, but realistically we just didn’t want to push it. We want to make sure it’s ready and it’s definitely ready now, ready to go.”
A shoulder that pre-surgery forced Eaton to sleep sitting up with a pillow under his arm hasn’t been a bother this spring. It hasn’t restricted him from playing, either. Eaton has appeared in nine games as the team’s designated hitter. He’s had success, too, hitting .357/.357/.536 in 28 spring at-bats.
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But Eaton needs time to acclimate to playing in the corners now that Austin Jackson is set to man center field the bulk of the time. Eaton’s enthusiastic about familiarizing himself with his new positions and new teammate — although he and Jackson may not get much work with Chris Sale on the mound Saturday.
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“Being able to go and play the field, get into the rhythm of the game and being able to impact it in more than one account, it’s not just your bat, I can play the field and make an impact there,” Eaton said. “Definitely a positive for me.
“To be able to become familiar with where (Jackson) is, how he plays in certain situations.
“I don’t know if we’re going to get a lot of action with Chris pitching. We may just be, ‘Hey, you’re over there and I’m over here. Good to see you, let’s throw between innings.’ That may be all we get today.
“But hopefully throughout camp we can get on the same page with communication and fly balls and grounders so we become familiar all along.”
