Seiya Suzuki to begin his rehab in Double-A Knoxville on Friday

Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who has missed the first six games with a sprained right knee, will work out with Double-A Knoxville on Thursday, then begin a rehab assignment with the Smokies when they open their season Friday night.

Manager Craig Counsell said Suzuki will play the outfield with Knoxville and expects him to be gone no more than a week before he rejoins the big-league club.

“Probably three to seven days, somewhere in that range,’’ Counsell said. “Seeing how he feels while he’s playing, then go from there.’’

The Cubs open a three-game series with the Guardians in Cleveland on Friday, followed by a three-game set against the Rays in St. Petersburg.

Suzuki has been out since March 14, when he hurt the knee on a stolen base in the first inning of Japan’s quarterfinal loss to Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic in Miami. In his absence, Counsell has used Matt Shaw four times and Michael Conforto twice. Shaw, who played third base last season, handled three chances cleanly Wednesday and had two singles, driving in three runs.

Tough lesson for rookie skipper

Kurt Suzuki, who caught 16 seasons in the big leagues but had no managing experience before the Angels hired him this season, learned a tough lesson Wednesday. Time waits for no man, especially a rookie manager.

Suzuki wanted to challenge a close play at the plate in the third inning. Plate umpire David Rackley had ruled that Miguel Amaya’s headfirst slide beat Zach Neto’s relay throw on Nico Hoerner’s double to the left-center-field gap. But umpiring crew chief Chris Guccione ruled that Suzuki did not signal he wanted a challenge in the 15 seconds allotted to make that decision.

Guccione explained his call to pool reporter Jordan Cohen of the Associated Press.

“When a close play happens like that, the manager is required to immediately ‘hold,’ to signal to start the clock, which is 15 seconds,’’ Guccione said.

“Once I see the manager hold by raising his hand, I’ll radio up to the press box to the [scoreboard operator Rick Fuhs] up there, who then starts the clock. By then, they have 15 seconds to wave [the challenge] off, challenge, whatever they want to do.’’

Guccione said the umpires wear a belt loaded with technological gizmos that include a buzzer, which goes off when the time expires. He said he was watching Suzuki when the buzzer sounded, and zeros also registered on his belt.

“Kurt came up a little late,’’ he said. “We want to get the play right, but there are regulations we need to follow.’’

The play was pivotal in the outcome of the game. Amaya’s run was the first in a four-run rally, as the Cubs followed Hoerner’s double with four more hits. Neto also committed a throwing error, and there was a sacrifice fly.

Hoerner, who’s hitting .318, had two doubles and a single and added his fourth stolen base, which made him, at least momentarily, the big-league leader. Suzuki lost a challenge on that call.

Hard day

The Angels had a rough afternoon. Mike Trout dropped a fly ball in a wind-challenged center field, and first baseman Jeimer Candelario let a pop fly fall just a couple of feet away from him.