Josh Rojas’ Injury Puts White Sox Infield Plans in Flux

The White Sox have suffered yet another injury setback. On Monday infielder Josh Rojas suffered a hairline fracture in his right big toe. 

White Sox manager Will Venable told reporters that, Rojas is dealing with some pain and that the team is taking the injury day to day. How soon Rojas will return will come down to pain tolerance.

“From what I heard it's the pain tolerance I don’t think there’s anything he can do running around out there that can make it worse,” Venable told reporters when asked about how much time Rojas will miss. “Obviously it’s fractured, he’s in some pain now so we’ll give him his time to heal up.” 

While Venable is hopeful that Rojas will be ready by Opening Day he said that he didn’t want to put a timeline on his return. The former Mariner was one of Chris Getz’s key offseason acquisitions this offseason. 

Josh Rojas has a hairline fracture in his big toe. They’re taking it day by day for now. pic.twitter.com/2pwlxznnu9

— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) March 17, 2025

Rojas seemed to have the inside track to be the White Sox Opening Day second baseman. The six-year MLB veteran has had a strong Spring, batting .313 with a .759 OPS in his first 32 at-bats.  

He has also played more career games at third base (282) than any other position, with second base (150) as his next most-played spot. With Miguel Vargas as the favorite to land the third base job, second, seemed like the most likely destination for Rojas. 

Rojas signed a one-year deal worth $3.5 million and has plenty of motivation to get back onto the field. The former 26th-round pick can earn $500,000 based on the number of games played. He will earn $100,000 if he plays in 90 games and an additional $100,000 for every 10 games after that up to 130. Last season he appeared in a career-high 142 games. 

He can also make $500,000 for his number of plate appearances. Rojas will earn $100,000 if he logs 300 plate appearances and an additional $50,000 for every 50 plate additional plate appearances up to 300. Rojas would have met this incentive last season as well after logging 476 at-bats. 

Despite his career .224 batting average, Rojas checks plenty of boxes for Getz. In six MLB seasons, the 30-year-old infielder owns a career 10 percent walk rate. Last season he also had one of the lowest chase rates in baseball at 22 percent. It fits a common theme of players gets have acquired this offseason such as Austin Slater and Mike Tauchman who also have a good understanding of the strike zone.