Pregame notes: It’s Reinstatement Week in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI -- There's a lot going on down by the Ohio River this weekend apparently, as MLB commissioner Rob Manfred picked the eve of Pete Rose Day at Great American Ballpark to announce that Pete Rose and Joe Jackson have been removed from the permanent ineligible list.

It's probably a little bit more than White Sox manager Will Venable might have bargained on commenting on during his pregame session, but he was game enough to give it a go.

"It's interesting," Venable said. "Obviously Pete's got a complicated legacy, and there's a lot of different thoughts. I think broadly, I probably fit in the category of I'm excited to see it. I think obviously everything that he's done on the field is amazing. My dad played with him and had great things to say about him and obviously his ability. So yeah, I think that skill set and what he accomplished will be recognized."

Jim will have more on this, especially the obvious White Sox angle, on Wednesday morning. The team issued a statement on the matter, and it is certainly an official statement issued by a large business entity:

"Major League Baseball’s decision today allows for 17 players, including eight members of the 1919 White Sox team, to now be eligible for consideration for the Hall of Fame. These players will have the opportunity to be considered by the Hall of Fame’s Classic Era Committee in December 2027, and the White Sox trust that the process currently in place will thoughtfully evaluate each player’s contributions to the game."

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The White Sox are turning to the opener again, with lefty Brandon Eisert setting things up for Jonathan Cannon. The right-hander has been able to provide a lot of length over his last four outings, covering 25 2/3 innings total and at least six frames in each appearance with a 3.86 ERA.

"Had a good feeling that they were gonna do [TJ] Friedl and [Elly] De La Cruz in the top three, which they have against left-handed starters," Venable said. "So we get the matchup up front. And I think just as important, or even more important, is it gives Jon a chance to pitch really deep into the game. He's shown the ability to do that well, even without an opener, and with the opener he almost took it the length of the game for us."

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Venable said that Mike Tauchman and Austin Slater will be on their rehab assignments at Triple-A Charlotte at least through the end of this week.

Andrew Benintendi might need a rehab assignment as well for his strained left calf.

"He's just getting his running progression going," Venable said. "Without having planned anything, I think it might be appropriate just to see where he's at physically, and make sure that he can undertake all the things that we're going to ask him to do. But we have not put that into a plan yet."

Luis Robert Jr. and Miguel Vargas are both back in the lineup after each missed the last two games of the Marlins series.

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Benintendi, Tauchman and Slater being out is obviously part of why Josh Rojas is manning left field, but those injuries also were part of why the Sox felt Tim Elko would be able to get steady at-bats upon arrival.

"We knew he was going to come up, just didn't know at what point — we wanted to make sure he was in a good spot," said assistant general manager Josh Barfield. "With some of the injuries that we've had, trying to give a boost to the offense, we talked about different ways to make it work, especially with him and [Andrew Vaughn] playing the same position. But you know, I think Will and the staff have done a good job with mapping out the opportunities, what they're going to look like, whether it's them rotating at first base, getting some DH opportunities, but we're going to find a way to get both their bats in the lineup."

Having cracked into the majors when José Abreu was still a fixture, Vaughn is used to splitting time at DH, and isn't opposed to the timeshare.

"It's adding offense to the team," Vaughn said. "He was killing it in Triple-A, you saw the swing the other day. It's a special talent. It's going to boost everybody here."

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This game will begin in a weather delay, as it started pouring around 6pm and the tarp was still on the field at the time this post was published.

First pitch: White Sox at Reds

TV: CHSN

Radio: ESPN 1000 AM

Lineups: