MILWAUKEE – The city series between the Cubs and White Sox will lack some sizzle with both teams struggling, especially the White Sox.
Maybe Luis Robert Jr. can add a little buzz for the Sox.
The All-Star center fielder, out since he strained a hip flexor during the seventh game of the season, could be back in uniform Tuesday for the first of two games at Wrigley Field. Robert played in his second minor league rehab game at Triple-A Charlotte Friday, and reading between the lines, seems to be on track to be ready after Sunday.
“He’s on a really good track,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “He actually feels really good.”
Robert homered in his first at-bat for the Knights Tuesday, played Wednesday and took a scheduled day off Thursday. The plan was to play in center field Friday and Saturday and be the designated hitter Sunday.
“And then we’ll reevaluate where he is,” Grifol said. “We have a day off on Monday and we’ll see if he can join us or not. It all depends on what happens today, what happens tomorrow; he’s going back-to-back.
“But again, he suffered a significant injury, and he is a high performer, high speed. So we’ve got to make sure that we’re erring on the side of caution and making sure we’re giving him the proper rest.”
Robert is a .380/.456/.760 hitter with five homers in 13 games lifetime against the Cubs.
Sosa returns, Ramos to Charlotte
Infielder Lenyn Sosa was recalled from Charlotte, where he has posted good numbers, to take Bryan Ramos’ spot on the 26-man roster. Ramos was sent down Thursday after seeing a good major league debut flatten out into a .196/.208/.239 hitting line in 48 plate appearances.
Sosa batted .132/.154/.184 in 12 games over 40 plate appearances for the Sox from April 6-21. In 16 games at Charlotte this season, he is batting .284/.355/.627 with seven home runs and a .982 OPS. He homered for the Knights in his most recent game Tuesday.
Grifol didn’t start Sosa on Friday but said he’ll play a lot, at second base and third base and possibly DH.
“He’s been a really, really good player in Triple A,” Grifol said. “His ability plays up here. Just need to put the mental side and the physical side together, with some confidence, with some success and see where it goes. Because this kid’s got a lot of ability.”
As does Ramos, whose parting words with Grifol were ‘I’ll be back.”
“We gave him a nice opportunity here to come and feel what it’s about at this level,” said Grifol, who called the move to AAA a “promotion” because Ramos was first recalled from Double-A Nashville. “Have a little success, face a little adversity and understand the speed of the game up here and go back to your development we feel you need to work and put yourself in position to come back here later on in the year. You gotta go and perform at Triple-A.”
Side by side
Ramos and shortstop Colson Montgomery, who is in his first season at Triple-A, are reunited on the left side of the infield at Charlotte. They have played next to each other at lower levels.
“Him and Colson playing together is a good thing,” Sox farm director Paul Janish said. “They’ve played together before but it’s good for them to be side by side and kind of feed off each other.”
Montgomery, MLB Pipeline’s No. 11 prospect, was batting .219 with a .715 OPS.