White Sox outfielder Adam Engel will depart for a Minor League rehab assignment Monday and will begin action with Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday in Norfolk, Va.

The 29-year-old Engel hit .278 during Spring Training, with three home runs, one double, two triples and seven RBIs, before suffering a right hamstring strain on March 20 while tracking down a fly ball in center field during a Cactus League contest against Cleveland. The original target had Engel returning in mid to late April, but he suffered a setback during his rehab, taking him from a Grade 2 strain to tearing the muscle off his tendon.

“We’ve had conversations about it since reinjury and thinking about maybe that was a good thing just because there was a decent chance, there wasn’t a whole lot of tendon and muscles still attached,” said Engel during a Zoom call on Sunday. “Obviously, I lost a lot of time, but it could have been even worse if I came back and try to run out a ball to first and all of a sudden reinjure it and have to rehab two separate injuries.

“It’s probably a decent thing that it happened when it did. But it doesn’t make it any easier from the standpoint of, 'I want to be playing baseball.' I thought I was having setbacks when in reality it was just really early in a timeline as far as going to a Grade 3 strain, and obviously that’s going to take longer to rehab.”

Engel's injury became a compound problem for the White Sox when starting center fielder Luis Robert suffered a right hip flexor tear running to first base in the first inning against Cleveland on May 2, keeping him out of baseball action for 12 to 16 weeks. The return of Engel, playing primarily center field per manager Tony La Russa, will serve as a big boost for the American League Central leaders.

“When he comes back … watch him close,” La Russa said. “I know, no matter what he does, starting Monday, it won't be Spring Training.

“So you're going to have to be careful, lean on him about being honest about how he feels. I'm sure he doesn't want to get hurt again. Center field, yes. How often he plays, we're going to watch it carefully day to day.”

Engel isn’t worried about reinjury or having his fast-paced approach short-circuited, as he is already getting up to full speed during workouts with the team. He now needs to strengthen his recovery through baseball action.

“I feel very confident I can play the type of game I like to play,” Engel said. “I shouldn’t have any risk of reinjury, obviously. I’m not going to say invincible out there.

“Play the game the only way I know how, and I’m very confident all the rehab I’ve done is going to put me in a position to do that. I wasn’t envisioning my first game of the year to be in Norfolk, Virginia, but that’s what it is, so I’m going to go out there and get ready to come back.”

La Russa ready for St. Louis
The Cardinals will come to Chicago on Monday for a three-game set, featuring Tuesday’s aces-high matchup between Lucas Giolito and St. Louis' Jack Flaherty. The duo also happen to be good friends and former teammates at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, where current White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz was their pitching coach.

La Russa will be managing against a Cardinals organization with which he posted a 1,408-1,182 record over 16 years, not to mention capturing three National League pennants and two World Series titles. La Russa’s last game managed before returning to the White Sox came on Oct. 28, 2011, when he guided the Cards to a 6-2 victory over the Rangers in Game 7 of the World Series.

“It's the common-sense stuff: recognize the birds on the bat,” said La Russa of facing his former team. “There are guys there, several guys that were teammates.

“There are guys on the coaching staff that I know really well. I don't mean this disrespectfully, but once you prepare for the game, once you play the game, you've got to tune out the distraction. It's a good distraction, but you've got to tune it out. I'm sure they will too.”

He said it
“The way you get through a six-month season is you treat every series like the other team's a Major League team, and they can beat you if you're not at your best.” -- La Russa, on viewing the Yankees series with a different lens