White Sox center fielder Luis Robert, who hasn’t started a game on the team’s current homestand due to a sore left wrist, went home Thursday morning before the team’s game against the Royals for the birth of his child.
Acting manager Miguel Cairo was hopeful Robert would return to the team this weekend when the Sox host the Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field. The team entered Thursday’s game in third place in the American League Central, five games behind the Guardians and 31⁄2 games behind the Twins.
Robert was in obvious discomfort swinging the bat during his last start Thursday, a 4-3 loss in 11 innings in Baltimore. He has appeared in two games since, as a pinch runner and defensive replacement.
Foster, Haseley added to roster
Right-hander Matt Foster and outfielder Adam Haseley were added as major-league rosters expanded to 28 on the first day of September.
Right-handed starter Michael Kopech and lefty reliever Aaron Bummer are expected to rejoin the team after healing from injuries, so the roster remains in flux for the final month.
Foster owns a 4.50 ERA in 47 relief appearances this season. The left-handed Haseley was batting .243/.313/.428 with 14 home runs in 91 games for Charlotte. In 11 games over two stints with the Sox this season, he went 5-for-20 with two RBI and three runs scored.
Team meeting
A players only meeting was held Thursday morning as the Sox attempt to make one last push to save a disappointing season.
“Communication is the thing that’s most important,” Cairo said. “Honesty. Have to be up front. Guys not playing that day, be ready to do their job.
“We’re going to have fun. As soon as you cross that line, it’s a battle. You have to be a warrior.”
The Sox broke a five-game losing streak with a 4-2 win against the Royals, Cairo’s second in command after manager Tony La Russa left the team for medical tests.
“Tony is kind of like the soul, like the centerpiece of our team,” Cairo said. “Not having him here, it feels like a little empty. We’ve got to do this for him. He’s going to go through some testing today and we’ll find out later on what is going on.”
All for one
Cairo, the team’s bench coach, said he will be his own man as he handles his new duties. But he’ll rely on those around him.
“I’ve got a good group of coaches, they’re going to help me,” he said. “I’m going to ask for their opinion and then I make the decision. But this is teamwork, we’re going to do it together, the players, the front office, myself and the coaching staff.”
Cairo has fielded all the questions about La Russa’s current status. General manager Rick Hahn, who has not talked publicly it, is expected to talk Friday if test results are known.
