MINNEAPOLIS -- Friday's contest between the White Sox and Twins at Target Field was postponed due to inclement weather and the forecast of continued inclement weather. Makeup date information will be announced at a later date.
According to weather.com, snow was to begin Friday night in the Minneapolis area and run through Sunday morning. White Sox manager Rick Renteria hasn't decided on Saturday afternoon's starter, with a first pitch scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CT. Reynaldo Lopez, Friday's scheduled starter, and Miguel Gonzalez, who was scheduled for Saturday, are both in the mix.
"It's incredible that we are talking about snow in the middle of April," said Renteria, who will be approaching Saturday with his team as if it's a normal game day. "We'll deal with it and everybody will do what they can to move forward. There's so much baseball left and we'll just keep working through it."
"All the people who are involved in this business are trying to grind through these first two weeks because the weather has been really bad," said White Sox first baseman and Cuba native Jose Abreu, through interpreter Billy Russo. "It's something that we have to deal with. It's really difficult to get used to this weather."
This postponement marked the second of the season for the White Sox, who had their series finale at Kauffman Stadium postponed on April 1 due to cold weather and snow. The first four games of the White Sox home ledger were played with a first-pitch temperature no higher than 36 degrees, including Monday against the Rays, when head groundskeeper Roger Bossard and his 23-person crew had to prepare the field following two inches of snow.
Having Friday's unscheduled off-day, marking the third straight Friday the White Sox haven't played in the 2018 season, provided a break for Yoan Moncada. The 22-year-old second baseman, who once was considered the game's top prospect by MLB Pipeline, has a .184 average, .604 OPS and 24 strikeouts over 49 at-bats in 12 games.
Renteria prefers to give players a day off on a game day, when they can sit back and watch the process without the pressure of playing, but understands Moncada is not a finished product. Both Abreu and Renteria talked to Moncada about his struggles postgame Thursday.
"I want him to understand there are certain things you have to do," Renteria said. "You have to maintain focus, and if you're not hitting, you've got to catch the ball, and if you're not catching the ball you better hit. But you can't fail at both, because then there's a problem. But he has to be Yoan. Yoan Moncada has to be Yoan Moncada."
"He has enough talent to surpass this moment," Abreu said. "It's just one more lesson for him to learn and I think that with all of our help, he's going to be good."