CHICAGO -- The White Sox have had been dealing with an outbreak of nagging injuries as of late. While Alejandro De Aza (back) and Kevin Youkilis (knee) return to the lineup for Wednesday’s game against Kansas City, first baseman Paul Konerko and right fielder Alex Rios were held out.

Manager Robin Ventura said Konerko is dealing with nagging injuries while Rios said he’s had a stiff back for a few days now. Ventura said that both could have played on Wednesday but he wanted to give them two days off with Thursday’s scheduled off day.

Aside from Brent Morel’s back injury and Konerko’s eye injury, the Sox have been fortunate this season to deal with only minor injuries to their position players. Morel is the only position player to have gone to the disabled list.

The rest might come at a good time for Konerko, who has just four hits in his lats 29 at-bats. Meanwhile, Rios has gone 15-for-38 with two home runs and four RBIs during his current nine-game hitting streak.

“This is one of the highest points of my career,” Rios said. “I’ve been hitting the ball hard consistently and I’ve been feeling pretty good.”