De Aza taking grounders at first base

Has White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen finally pulled the plug on Adam Dunn?

It’s still a bit too early to say for sure, but the evidence is mounting.

As expected, Dunn wasn’t in the starting lineup Friday night against Royals left-hander Bruce Chen.

Dunn is batting a robust .038 (3-for-79) with 36 strikeouts against lefties, so his absence was no surprise.

As for right-handed pitchers, Dunn is not exactly tearing it up at .198 with 110 strikeouts in 262 at-bats.

Paul Konerko has been unable to play first base since July 31 due to a sore left leg, so Dunn has been used at the position against right-handed pitchers out of necessity.

But as Dunn has continued to drag down the Sox’ offense, another left-handed hitter, outfielder Alejandro De Aza, has been taking groundballs at first base during batting practice.

De Aza said he hasn’t played at first in seven years, so that should indicate how far Dunn has slipped into the doghouse.

“Just in case we need him,” Guillen said of De Aza playing first base. “If Dunn continues to struggle, then I can start him at first base against rightys. I don’t know if that’s going to happen but we went a couple of times on the road where we had to put somebody at first base but I needed an outfielder, too.

“We can’t put (Brent) Lillibridge at first and right field. That’s what we’re trying to figure out. I talked to (bench coach) Joey (Cora) and Joey came out and tried to help (De Aza) at first base.”

Lillibridge has been outstanding at first base the past two weeks, but he’s an athletic player that can be used everywhere but pitcher and catcher.

“That position (first base) is very important,” Guillen said. “People think they can go out there and play first base any time. I think that position is one of the hardest positions in the game because every ball, you’re involved in the play.”

Pierzynski day to day:Catcher A.J. Pierzynski is likely to sit out tonight#146;s game against the Royals after being hit by a Bruce Chen pitch on the left wrist in the third inning.Pierzynski caught the fourth inning before being replaced by Tyler Flowers. X-rays were negative.#147;It#146;s sore,#148; Pierzynski said. #147;Obviously, to get hit there is not good. It could have been worse. Luckily there#146;s no fractures or anything in there. It#146;s sore and we will see how it feels tomorrow.#148;Stewart debuts:In his first home start for the White Sox on Friday night, Zach Stewart pitched well enough to beat anyone not named Bruce Chen.The right-hander, acquired with reliever Jason Frasor in the July 27 trade that sent Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen to Toronto, pitched 6#8531; innings for the Sox and allowed 2 runs on 7 hits.Stewart got into a big jam in the first inning when he walked leadoff man Alex Gordon before yielding 3 straight singles, 1 a bunt and 1 a bloop.But he worked out of the mess and allowed only 1 run in the opening inning.#147;I was mostly just mad at myself for the leadoff walk,#148; said Stewart, who won at Minnesota last Saturday in his first start for the White Sox. #147;It#146;s something as a pitcher you just can#146;t do, especially to start off the game. That was the only thing I was really frustrated about.#148;