CLEVELAND — As expected, the White Sox were without Luis Robert Jr. for the rubber game of their series Wednesday afternoon against the Guardians after the All-Star center field candidate tweaked one of his quad muscles in the outfield Tuesday night.
Robert is day to day, and while manager Pedro Grifol didn’t rule out Robert being available Thursday when the Sox open a four-game series in Detroit, it would not surprise to see him take another day off.
“Tomorrow I’m expecting him to be ready to play,” Grifol said. “If not, if he needs a day he needs a day. He’s ran hard the first month and a half of the season.”
Robert will have missed two games this season after Wednesday and was due for a rest. He is batting .360/.429/.773 with eight homers, seven doubles, 16 RBI and 20 runs scored in May.
“He was going to get a day off here today, tomorrow, at some point in the next few days,” Grifol said. “It just so happened it happened last night and he gets it today.”
The precise muscle is the right rectus femoris, a quad muscle near the hip. Robert picked up Jose Ramirez’s triple that banged off the right field wall and made an awkward turn throwing to the infield.
Grifol again praised Robert’s pregame work as “second to none” and “one of the best I’ve ever seen, to a point where you get kind of concerned a little bit because he’s doing so much work prior to a game.”
“But that’s what he feels he needs to do. I’ve been around player like that who feel they have to put that type of work in to be ready for the game. Over time they start scaling that down a little. But he’s young, strong, athletic and that’s what he feels he needs to prepare for games. Doesn’t surprise me. He has put in good work in the offseason and puts it in every day.”
Frazier in center
Clint Frazier saw action in center field with Triple-A Charlotte, and he was Grifol’s choice to take Robert’s spot Wednesday.
“The reports we’ve gotten is he’s more than capable of doing it,” Grifol said. “And somebody has to step up and give Luis a day or two. So today it’s Frazier.”
Burger shakes off five strikeouts
Jake Burger struck out five times Tuesday, then went to the batting cage after the game.
“It’s almost therapeutic to go down to the cage and get the frustration out a little bit,” Burger said. “It’s one bad game. And it won’t be the last of my career. I feel good, you move on.”
Burger said he slept fine Tuesday night. He lined out to second and hit a sacrifice fly his first two times at bat Wednesday.
“That’s the beauty of having a six month old. He doesn’t care if you go 0-for-5 or 5-for-5. He was smiling at me on FaceTime. He gives me that perspective of what this is really for.”
Burger, a third baseman by trade, was the DH again Wednesday but could get some game action at second. He worked at second base during the 2021 offseason and said he played a half dozen or so games at Charlotte there. He is working with coach Eddie Rodriguez around the bag now.
“Growing up you see Dan Uggla over there, Mike Moustakas, Max Muncy, some power guys at second base,” said Burger, who has 10 homers. “I enjoy learning a new position. It’s going to be a learning curve.”
