Pregame notes: Hurry up and wait

There was word near the end of spring that there will be an increased emphasis from MLB this season on waiting out weather delays whenever possible and avoiding doubleheaders, but it's hard to know how serious an "emphasis" is until you're living in it. And with the reduced amount of divisional play, there are fewer return trips for the Twins to Chicago to choose from for a reschedule date, and the options available aren't in particularly palatable stretches of the calendar to add a game for either side.

Sneakily, as all the other things about our society were undergoing more noticeable changes, we drifted into a world where an all-day rain forecast on a getaway day game in April between divisional opponents is no longer an automatic postponement.

The White Sox began this morning by telling media they have every intention of playing Wednesday's game, even with a forecast that could see storms linger in the area until as late as 6pm. The FanGraphs White Sox prospect list is due soon. There is a feature in the works about Sean Burke, Shane Smith and Mike Vasil all being on the same Area Codes team and I have a Colson Whitehead novel in my bag. Maybe all will be finished by first pitch. More likely none of them will be.

⚙️⚙️⚙️

After working together briefly in Baltimore last season, Nick Maton said new White Sox director of hitting Ryan Fuller reached out during the offseason to encourage him to sign with the White Sox. Well-known as a dead-red fastball hitter, Maton has been working to "get back to myself," after feeling all his work to improve against secondary pitches had sapped his signature effectiveness against velocity.

"When you're trying to hit pitcher's strengths over here without your strengths, it's really not going to work out that well because there's a reason they're there," Maton said. "People have got really good stuff, so you've just got to stick what you do best."

It's hard to project Maton holding down a 1B/DH role as a long-term assignment, but with the state of the Sox lineup and a few injuries sprinkled in, it's hard to argue with two homers and three walks in 12 trips to the plate at this juncture either.

⚙️⚙️⚙️

Assuming this game actually happens, Luis Robert Jr. is getting a day off from the field, which is what the addition of Michael A. Taylor was originally sold as allowing for more often. With Mike Tauchman still on a rehab assignment, the Sox simply have a full platoon of backup centerfielders.

"For us, his health is going to be really important," Will Venable said of Robert. "And finding spots for DHs, days off, whatever it might be we’re going to prioritize that. We also like other guys out there too and give them a chance to go out there and play defense and be in the lineup is important too."

This would only be the eighth game in which Robert has appeared as a DH, slashing .174/.321/.304, which represent all of 28 plate appearances. He's a career .267/.314/.471 hitter when manning center.

⚙️⚙️⚙️

Venable does not plan to get any reading in during the rain delay.

"The work is endless. We have lots of advance work to do, things we can investigate with our own guys, there’s always stuff to do," he said.

⚙️⚙️⚙️

The White Sox announced that Mason Adams underwent Tommy John surgery on Wednesday morning.

First pitch: White Sox vs. Twins

TV: CHSN

Radio: ESPN 1000 AM, WTRO 1200 AM (Spanish)

Lineups: