White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami went 1-for-3 with a single and two strikeouts while playing five innings at first base Tuesday in his first rehab game at Triple-A Charlotte. There\u2019s no set timeline for his return, but it\u2019s plausible that he\u2019s in the Sox\u2019 lineup Friday for the opener of a series against the Athletics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a game plan to build him up throughout the week,\u201d Sox manager Will Venable said. \u201cTake it day by day to see how he\u2019s feeling and recovering and see if he\u2019s getting enough at-bats. And then hopefully at some point before the break, we\u2019ll activate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Venable has said he expects Murakami, who strained his right hamstring May 29, to play a couple of games in Charlotte. If that\u2019s the case, Murakami could play Wednesday and travel Thursday to Chicago.<\/p>\n
His return will necessitate a difficult roster decision. Jacob Gonzalez is playing well at first base and coming on at the plate. But there might not be playing time available elsewhere on the infield, where he actually has more experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery one of these guys has contributed,\u201d Venable said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been talking about that in every one of these wins, every one of these games. That makes it tough when you have guys that you\u2019re bringing back and getting healthy because everyone has done such a good job. Good problems to have, but we\u2019ll figure it out when we get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
With rain pouring and the field covered before the game Sunday in Cleveland, injured Sox outfielder Austin Hays ran sprints in right field under the supervision of trainer Brad Lawson. Hays is on the 60-day injured list with a strained left calf.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe looked really good running, and so he\u2019ll continue to run and take [batting practice], and then we\u2019ll see how it goes over the All-Star break relative to being able to move around,\u201d Venable said. \u201cAnd then if he\u2019s in a good spot, we\u2019ll look at what a rehab assignment would look like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outfielder Everson Pereira still is battling symptoms from a concussion. Venable described him as day-to-day.<\/p>\n
\u201cStill working through getting the intensity up with the activities without having symptoms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Left-hander Noah Schultz had another rough outing in his second start since returning from the injured list (tendinitis in right knee). In five innings, he allowed four runs, seven hits (two home runs) and three walks with three strikeouts. In 10 starts this season, he has a 6.00 ERA (32 earned runs in 48 innings).<\/p>\n