The White Sox announced that first baseman Tim Elko underwent surgery Tuesday to address a torn right ACL. Elko’s projected recovery time is eight months, so he’ll miss at least half of the 2026 season. (MLB.com’s Scott Merkin was one of the Sox beat writers who passed on the news.)
It’s a rough setback for Elko, who made his Major League debut in the form of 23 games for the White Sox this season. Elko also spent just under four weeks on Chicago’s 10-day injured list with a right knee sprain, so it seems likely that his ACL tear came in the aftermath of that knee issue, or perhaps Elko was trying to play through a tear.
This is the second right ACL tear for Elko, as he suffered the same injury in 2021 while playing college ball for Ole Miss. Rather than get immediate surgery, Elko took roughly a month off and then returned to play 21 more games for the team. Elko had played some third base and outfield as well as first base in college, but in the aftermath of his ACL tear, he has stuck just to first base and DH in pro ball.
Chicago selected Elko in the tenth round of the 2022 draft, and he worked his way up the minor league ladder with increasingly strong numbers (including a .291/.359/.525 slash line and 35 homers over 633 Triple-A plate appearances). This was enough for the White Sox to select Elko’s contract to the big league roster this year, but he was shuttled back and forth to Triple-A after making little impact in the Show. Elko hit only .134/.194/.328 with four homers in his first 72 MLB plate appearances.
The door was open for Elko (who turns 27 in December) to put himself in Chicago’s first base picture after Andrew Vaughn was traded to the Brewers in June, but Elko’s lack of production and subsequent knee issues scuttled his chances. Elko now faces a long road back with the second ACL rehab of his career, and the hope is that he can heal up in time to get another decent-sized look on the White Sox roster before the 2026 season is over.