Pregame notes: Family reunion

Remember how Anthony Rizzo recently came back to Wrigley Field to retire with the franchise where he became an icon?

If such a move was made upon José Abreu's return to Rate Field for the first time since he was playing for the Astros in 2023, that would certainly come as a surprise to him.

"No, no, no, no," Abreu said, exactly four times. "Just God knows what’s ahead of us. Whatever He decides."

Playful and making banter in English with familiar faces aplenty--albeit not many in the locker room--Abreu didn't reveal any particular reason for the occasion of his return. He is not ready to say he's retiring, nor did he state immediate plans to return to the diamond at age 38 ("I’m a little bit heavy right now," he quipped in English). He also said it was too early to ponder a transition to coaching, and professed that he's solely focused on spending time with his family, taking his kids to school, making cracks about how much time they spend playing videogames.

But he's happy to be here, and that's not something the last three years of White Sox have programmed anyone to take as a given.

"My heart always will be with the White Sox; this is my place, this is my home," Abreu said via interpreter. "Ever since last night, I started just thinking about all the people that helped me to get to this point, helped me be the person and the player that I am. Robin [Ventura], [Rick] Renteria, [Tony] La Russa, all of them helped me to be the player that I am and made me grow as a professional too. And Jerry [Reinsdorf]. I wouldn’t be here without Jerry’s support. That’s very special. He’s a very special person in my life."

With Abreu throwing out the first pitch and a larger crowd expected for Hispanic Heritage Night, the former MVP is likely to get the sort of ovation that he avoided on the last day of the 2022 season. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts, since his reasoning for wanting privacy on that night still feels like it's behind held close to the vest.

"I will always be grateful," Abreu said via interpreter. "I’m a grateful person. I don’t like saying goodbye because that’s the end. That is not how I am. That’s not the person I am. To me saying good bye is the end, your life is done. For me that’s why I don’t like saying goodbye."

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Martín Pérez is unsurprisingly done for the season, as neither of the two biggest White Sox free-agent signings from this winter will end the year on the active roster, and neither for the reasons the front office intended.

"It is a shoulder strain," said Will Venable. "Puts him more at the eight-week mark. Obviously that pushes him past this season. But I think he did avoid a major injury there where there is plenty of optimism that he’ll rehab and get back to form for next year."

Cam Booser was recalled, but Venable said Owen White and Jonathan Cannon would be potential call-ups to fill Pérez's spot for the final turn of the rotation.

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Andrew Benintendi is both out of the lineup, and matching the description of any man in his 30s who played in a sporting event earlier in the week.

"He’s got different things, different parts of the body that could use a day," Venable said. "To have yesterday’s off day, back it up with another one, let him feeling a little bit better before we put him back out there."

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Venable said--more or less--that both a 99-loss season and a 101-loss season would kind of stink.

"It’s a nice thing to look at and point to," Venable said. "I’m not sure how it changes our bottom line one way or the other. We still, I look at our record and we’re not happy at all. Whether it’s 99 losses or 100-something losses, we’re not going to be happy with that at all. Regardless of what our record ends up being, it also doesn’t take away from the progress that we’ve made and the momentum we’re creating with these young players and this young group and some of the things we’re trying to do culturally and internally."

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Dylan Cease is starting for the Padres and Gavin Sheets batting sixth. It would feel nostalgic to see Cease to throw 100 pitches in 4 2/3 innings or for Sheets to get left in late to face a sidearming lefty for some reason, but reunions never quite live up to our memories.

First pitch: White Sox vs. Padres

TV: CHSN

Radio: ESPN 1000 AM, WRTO 1200 AM

Lineups: