If Ramirez stays hot, Uribe will keep waiting

DETROIT -- When Juan Uribe came off the disabled list May 31, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen laid the groundwork for a platoon situation at second base.

If Uribe was hot, he'd get the playing time. If Alexei Ramirez was hot, same deal.

Nine games later, Uribe is still cooling his jets on the Sox' bench.

"I want to play,'' said Uribe, who last started May 15 against the Angels. "I love to play, but it's out of my control. I can't do anything. Alexei is playing really good, so I'll stay ready and wait for my chance to play.''

Ramirez was batting .143 on May 15, the day Uribe left the White Sox' game at Los Angeles with a strained right hamstring.

Getting a chance to play on a regular basis, Ramirez went 24-for-59 (.407) while hiking his average to .291 heading into Tuesday's game against the Tigers.

Ramirez continued to get the job done against Detroit, drawing a one-out walk in the fourth inning, stealing second base and scoring on A.J. Pierzynski's two-out single.

A natural shortstop, Ramirez has made an effortless transition to second base, and he showed off his athletic ability during last Wednesday's victory over Kansas City while making 4 barehanded putouts.

The Sox didn't know exactly what they had when they signed the wiry Ramirez to a four-year contract Jan. 22 after he defected from his native Cuba.

Now, there's an obvious reason Ramirez is playing and Uribe is sitting.

"One thing about Alexei, one thing that's helping him right now, he doesn't know the pitchers and the pitchers don't know him,'' Guillen said. "He doesn't care who's on the mound.

"He just goes out there and performs. The reason he's playing every day is he's playing well. I think he's playing good enough second base and he's got some big hits for us. He's playing pretty good right now; hopefully that continues.''

If it does, Uribe will continue to sit and wait for his chance to play again.

"The best thing I see is the team is winning a lot of games,'' Uribe said. "As long as the team is winning, how can I not be happy?''