For the first time in the 2019 season, Jose Abreu was not in the White Sox starting lineup.
Abreu started every one of the team's first 102 games this season and played all but one inning of those contests. But the workload of late has caught up with the All-Star first baseman, according to manager Rick Renteria, who gave Abreu a day off Sunday.
Abreu, unsurprisingly, wasn't thrilled about it. But Renteria wouldn't let him protest, even offering to deal with any consequences himself.
"As we were watching this whole week unfold, you can see he's tired," Renteria said before Sunday's game. "And yesterday (convincing him to take a day off) was not as hard as you might think.
"He comes into my office every night ... and so yesterday he was coming in and I said, 'You're not going to convince me, you're not getting in the lineup, so don't say a thing.'
"So he said he was going to have to call his mom today to make sure she doesn't get too upset because she sees him as a grinder and he's got to get out there. And he talks to her, and she's probably going to be upset he's not in the lineup. So I said, 'That's OK, if you need me to, I'll talk to her.'"
Abreu's consistent presence has obviously been a big deal for the White Sox. His health over the years has been nearly as consistent as his production, which made a pair of freak injuries in 2018 stand out so much. Playing every day is part of the oft-discussed example he sets for younger players, something that was on display Sunday, even as he was out of the lineup. Abreu was spotted running stairs in the 90-degree heat at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Abreu wasn't the only White Sox regular to get a day off Sunday, with James McCann seated as part of Renteria's plan to split the catching workload a little more between McCann and Welington Castillo.
"Fortunately for us with today and tomorrow, the natural day off, it kind of worked out for both him and Pito," Renteria said of McCann. "I'm going to try to get Wely take a couple of the guys and then we'll rotate. We'll have (day games after night games) where some adjustments will have to be made, absolutely. And he's been another guy I've been running out there a lot, whether it's been catching or DH'ing.
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"He needs a break. He's really pushed himself, he's been a big part of who we are, obviously through the first half and even now catching a lot of these guys. Very important for him and Wely to start splitting a little bit of the time. I want Mac to take most of the time with these guys, but we're going to continue to make some adjustments and let him be who he is."
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