For manager Tony La Russa, filling out the lineup card this deep into a season often means balancing when it’s the right time to give a player a day off.
The first two and a half months of the season are starting to take their toll physically and mentally, and guys who started the season hot are starting to cool off. And some are downright slumping.
Namely, Jose Abreu has struggled in June, hitting just .173 with one home run. The 2020 American League MVP had a slow start in April, but he hit .333 in May with six home runs, five doubles, and a triple.
La Russa believes that some of what is contributing to Abreu’s slump in June is the usual wear and tear of a season. Abreu has had some scary moments on the field this year, including a collision with Hunter Dozier in May, and those bumps and bruises add up. La Russa acknowledged this after Abreu went 0-for-3 in Friday’s 9-3 loss to the Mariners, but come Saturday, he had Abreu in the lineup again.
“The conversation went like, he’s ready to play,” La Russa said, explaining his choice. “He put his hand on a ball, which is the baseball bible, and assured me that he wasn’t being overly heroic. So I said ‘Great, you’re in there.’ That’s how it went.”
Getting Abreu to rest can be easier said than done; he was taking swings on the field Saturday morning less than twelve hours after Friday night’s game had ended.
“You’ve seen what he did over the years,” shortstop Tim Anderson said of his teammate. “He’s definitely working. I just saw him in the cage so I think that says a lot about what kind of guy he is and what type of work ethic he has.”
La Russa’s sustained faith in Abreu could pay off — he did hit a bloop single to shallow left field in his first at bat Saturday, before play was suspended due to rain. That was Abreu’s first hit since his seventh inning single on Tuesday in Pittsburgh.
“He’s sore but he’s not hurt. That’s the key,” La Russa said.
And Abreu isn’t the only player whose health La Russa is trying to take into consideration when he decides on his starting nine each day. He has had to have similar conversations with Yoan Moncada. In Friday’s game, Moncada rolled his ankle slightly taking a swing and then later had to be checked after running to first base. He remained in the game, but La Russa said Moncada iced the ankle immediately after the ninth inning ended.
Despite this, Moncada was also in Saturday’s lineup. Like with Abreu, La Russa is choosing to trust Moncada when he says he’s good to play.
“If it gets to where it’s detrimental to him or the team, I think he’ll speak up,” La Russa said.
During last weekend’s series in Houston, Moncada insisted he could play, even though he was battling a sinus infection at the time. Moncada went 0-for-3 that day, and his production has also slowed in June. His OPS is down to .663 this month after it was .892 in May.
Regardless, La Russa believes he and the team medical staff can manage the right amount of rest for Moncada, but like Abreu, Moncada’s name can be a hard one not to write on his lineup card.
“As long as we keep that communication honest and trust him,” La Russa said. “But there’s been a lot of times he’s gone to the post concerned about, we’ve been concerned about something and he gets the RBI that make you happy he played, because he was the difference, defensively, offensively. Just part of relationships and trust. And we trust if it’s not in his best interest, which is not in our interest, that he’s going to let us know.”
