White Sox activate Madrigal from IL

Battling for the top spot in the American League Central, the White Sox activated rookie second baseman Nick Madrigal from the Injured List on Friday.

MLB Pipeline's No. 44 overall prospect missed 21 games with a separated left shoulder suffered while sliding into third base in a 3-2 victory over Milwaukee on Aug. 4.

While Danny Mendick was in the lineup for Friday night's game against Kansas City, White Sox manager Rick Renteria said Madrigal will be his everyday second baseman.

"We need to make sure that Nicky can roll out there and do his thing. Today, I just wanted him to just come back into the club, transition with us, get comfortable again, even though he's been here, back and forth, just get back into it," Renteria told reporters. "I'm sure you'll see Nicky quite active in our lineups moving forward."

Madrigal, the fourth-ranked White Sox prospect, started the season at the team's alternate training site in suburban Schaumburg, but was promoted on July 31 and collected his first four Major League hits two days later. He was batting .294/.333/.294 in five games when his left arm made hard contact with the infield dirt as he slid into third base against the Brewers.

"Once it happened, I was really sore. I wasn't sure it was going to get better in a couple of days or if it was going to be a while. I was just staying hopeful," Madrigal told reporters Friday. "The doctors told me it wasn't going to be season-ending. Once I heard that, it was definitely positive news. But I was still nervous after the first couple of days because it was so sore, so I wasn't sure. As time went on, I felt a lot better and more comfortable about getting back to playing and things like that.

"I was looking forward to getting back with the guys. ... I was watching almost every single game, every pitch. It was tough to kind of miss out on some of the moments, especially the (Lucas Giolito) no-hitter and things like that. Watching that from the living room was tough."

Madrigal was drafted fourth overall in 2018 and put together a .309/.371/.398 slash line in two seasons in the Minor Leagues, scoring 101 runs and driving in 71 in 163 games. He started last year with Class A Advanced Winston-Salem and ended it with Triple-A Charlotte, batting .311/.377/.414 with the first four homers of his professional career, 35 stolen bases, 76 runs scored and 55 RBIs in 120 games.

The Oregon State product was named a Carolina League midseason All-Star, started for the American League at the Futures Game and won a Minor League Gold Glove.

The White Sox are 19-12 and tied with the Indians for second place in the AL Central, a half-game behind the Twins.