Davis Martin gets the ball with a chance to steady himself, though the White Sox right-hander says he’s trying to build on the progress he’s made since the All-Star break rather than treat this like a reset.
The challenge is obvious. The Red Sox have been rolling, winning 28 of their last 33 games, and they bring that form into this matchup.
The White Sox also made a handful of roster moves before the game. Luis Castillo, Huascar Brazobán, Brenton Doyle and Joey Bart were all officially activated. With a left-handed starter on the mound, Doyle and Bart are both in the lineup, while Castillo is set to make his debut on Thursday.
To create room, Edgar Quero, Tyler Schweitzer and Tyler Gilbert, who had been on a rehab assignment, were all optioned.
There was also a cause attached to the weekend’s buzz around the White Sox. In connection with Ozzie Guillen’s jersey retirement ceremony, the club and Guillen are launching a fundraiser for relief efforts after the deadly twin earthquakes in his native Venezuela in June. The proceeds will go to the American Red Cross Venezuela Earthquake Relief and Global Empowerment Misson.
The Red Sox lineup features Nick Sogard leading off at second base, followed by Ceddanne Rafaela in center, Wilyer Abreu in right and Willson Contreras at first. Masataka Yoshida is the DH, Chad Durbin is at third, Jarren Duran is in left, Andruw Monasterio is at short and Connor Wong is behind the plate for Patrick Sandoval.
For the White Sox, Chase Meidroth starts at second, Munetaka Murakami at first and Miguel Vargas at third. Randal Grichuk is in left, Colson Montgomery is the DH, Joey Bart catches, Brenton Doyle is in center, Braden Montgomery is in right and Luisangel Acuña is at short.
In Other News...
White Sox Prospect Picture Now Centers On Two Names And Bigger Questions
With Noah Schultz and Braden Montgomery no longer on Baseball Americas Top 100, the White Sox prospect conversation has narrowed in a hurry. For now, the organizations highest-profile names on that list are Roch Cholowsky and Caleb Bonemer, a reminder that the system still has some real talent even as the turnover continues and other players shuffle roles or slip out of the rankings entirely.
That leaves the White Sox in a familiar holding pattern: watching the minor league performances, tracking who is moving and who is not, and trying to sort out which prospects might shape the next wave in Chicago. The stockpile is thinner at the top than it was not long ago, but the bigger question is whether the current group can turn that remaining buzz into something more meaningful for the major league club. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox May Have Given Up Too Soon On This Former Top Prospect
The White Sox have already been busy sorting through deadline-day roster churn, and one of the quieter moves involved a former top prospect who never got much runway in Chicago. Everson Pereira was part of the latest wave of transactions after the club made room elsewhere, a reminder of how quickly a player can move from a possible long-shot flier to a roster casualty when a front office is trying to manage depth and flexibility.
Pereiras profile still carries some intrigue because of the mix of minor league production, brief major league looks and injury interruptions that have shaped his career so far. His next stop is a Cardinals organization that will have to keep him on the active roster, which gives the move a little more weight than a typical waiver claim and leaves the White Sox to wonder whether they moved on before getting a real answer on what he might become. [Read more 🡒]
Colson Montgomery Faces A Tough New Test In White Sox Progress
Since June, the White Sox have at least looked like a club moving in the right direction, going 27-27 after a rougher start and finding a little more stability around the roster. For Colson Montgomery, though, the picture has been more complicated. The 24-year-old is in his first full major league season, and his production has slipped during the same stretch, with the left-handed hitter working through the usual growing pains that come when pitchers start adjusting back.
Ryan Fuller, the teams hitting director, and Montgomery both have framed it as part of the development curve rather than a simple slump. Montgomery has been trying to adapt to a league that is taking new looks at him, and the challenge now is less about proving he belongs than figuring out how to respond when opponents change the book on him. [Read more 🡒]