Renteria has plan to get Abreu, Alonso meaningful minutes at first base

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jose Abreu and Yonder Alonso are team-first guys, so neither one is going to pout about not getting what they want.

They both would prefer playing first base over being designated hitter, and Chicago White Sox manager Rick Renteria has hatched a plan he hopes keeps both sluggers happy.

Abreu started the first two games of the season at first base and Alonso was the DH.

Against the Royals on Sunday, Abreu was the DH and Alonso was at first. The duo gave the White Sox the early lead with back-to-back solo home runs in the fourth inning.

Alonso likely will be back at first base Monday at Cleveland.

"You might see (Abreu) playing three days in a row after that," Renteria said. "We're trying to make sure they get enough playing time so both of them are still sharp enough at first and still allowing them an opportunity to take advantage of what they can do as DHs."

In his first five seasons with the Sox, Abreu was at first base for 631 games and at DH for 112.

Acquired from Cleveland in a Dec. 15 trade, Alonso had only been designated hitter for nine games in nine major-league seasons. He played 847 games at first base.

Renteria talked to Alonso shortly after the trade.

"I was real clear with both of them as how we were to proceed," Renteria said. "And I was real clear with Yonder when we spoke on the phone of how I viewed (Abreu). That being said, I think both of them have mutual respect.

"They were in contact with each other, they both understood the ways I was going to try to manage their usage. I just wanted to make sure that with either one it wasn't affecting their performance in the long run. I think we'll be able to manage it."

Sight seeing:

On Friday's off-day in Kansas City, Lucas Giolito, Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Covey got a tour of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

It was the second straight year Giolito was a visitor.

"It was super awesome, so I wanted to go back and get the full tour again," Giolito said. "It was great. "If you go on a museum tour, I equate it to like being in history class. If you sit through a lecture in history, you're only going to get so much.

"You need to go back and study. That was what it was kind of like for me, going back and getting the whole thing again, learning about it.

"It's very fascinating to me because I think the Negro Leagues doesn't get enough credit for what it did as a whole for the Civil Rights movement, not just in baseball and sports but across everything having to do with American culture in that aspect."

Catching up:

Much like first base, the White Sox are going to platoon James McCann and Welington Castillo at catcher.

Castillo has been nursing a sore back, which is why McCann started the first and third games of the opening series against the Royals.

Castillo was behind the plate Saturday.

"I'm still trying to get Wely back on track," manager Rick Renteria said. "He's probably a little taxed today. I'll try to get him out there every other day to try to get his body back in shape to handle the load. The more I get him out there, the more comfortable he feels with what he's doing."