Report: White Sox manager Rick Renteria passes test, expected to rejoin team

White Sox manager Rick Renteria was away from his team Monday while awaiting the result of a precautionary test after he woke up with a slight cough and nasal congestion.

All he missed was a rainout.

But out of "an abundance of caution," he stayed at the team hotel while the White Sox waited for the result of the test. According to a report from The Sun-Times, Renteria passed his test and is expected to rejoin the team, perhaps as soon as Tuesday, when the White Sox will play the Indians in a doubleheader in Cleveland.

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In a Monday-afternoon statement, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn did not specify that Renteria's test was for COVID-19, and a team spokesperson called it "a precaution due to the current circumstances." White Sox bench coach Joe McEwing, who was to manage in Renteria's place had Monday's game actually been played Monday night, said Renteria felt fine and that the manager and the team were "just being very cautious."

The news on Renteria came on a scary day for baseball and the prospects of the league safely completing the shortened 2020 season. Thirteen members of the Miami Marlins - 11 players and two coaches - tested positive for COVID-19, raising questions of whether baseball's vast health-and-safety protocol is enough to keep players safe and what happens next after a pair of games set for Monday night, in Miami and Philadelphia, were postponed.

The White Sox, for their part, have been nothing but confident in the health-and-safety measures they've dealt with since the start of "Summer Camp" at the beginning of the month. But Renteria's precautionary test in Cleveland came on the first full day the White Sox have been away from Chicago this season. The testing numbers during "Summer Camp" seemed relatively encouraging for baseball, but now teams are traveling around the country, bringing new challenges.

"We are just continuing to focus on what we are doing here, taking the correct measures to keep everybody as safe as we possibly can," McEwing said Monday. "As an organization and as a training staff, we did a pretty good job at it so far. Hopefully it continues that way."

RELATED: Marlins' COVID-19 outbreak: White Sox trust in MLB protocols might not matter

The White Sox announced that two players tested positive for COVID-19 during the intake period, when players arrived in Chicago for "Summer Camp" at the beginning of the month and before they started working out at team facilities. One of them was later revealed to be third baseman Yoán Moncada. His teammates did not have concerns about being around him after he rejoined the team two weeks into "Summer Camp," another show of trust in baseball's protocol, which requires two negative tests before a player who tested positive can rejoin his team.

Moncada reported Monday that his teammates are taking things seriously as, from the outside, baseball's situation looks more precarious after what happened with the Marlins.

"They are taking this very seriously," he said, through team interpreter Billy Russo. "Everybody's following the protocols. They know that this is something that's very serious. This coronavirus stuff, it's not something to mess around with. Everybody's taking the most precautions they can.

"I can say for myself, it's a very, very serious thing."


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Report: White Sox manager Rick Renteria passes test, expected to rejoin team originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

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