Pregame notes: Chase Meidroth hit a ball over the Crawford Boxes in batting practice

HOUSTON -- The headline might not be relevant to the game that follows, but how often is it anyway?

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Jonathan Cannon was playing catch on Wednesday, but until he throws off a mound, Will Venable won't have a timeline to offer for him.

Mike Vasil will be the bulk pitcher on Saturday as the Sox patch together their rotation in Cannon's absence, but Venable said it's not a given that he will actually start. The Rangers tweaked their rotation such that this mix will opposing Jacob deGrom on Saturday.

Lenyn Sosa is beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte on Friday for his strained right hip flexor.

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The White Sox are tied for the highest walk rate (10.7 percent) in baseball over the past two weeks, and plenty of credit goes to Chase Meidroth drawing them at a 12.6 percent clip at the top of the lineup. The Sox also have the fourth-worst offense in MLB by weighted runs created (83 wRC+) over that same span.

Since Meidroth is hitting .296/.385/.365 for a 119 wRC+ on the year, he probably deserves less association with the latter factoid.

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Between Mike Tauchman, Andrew Benintendi, Josh Rojas and Kyle Teel, it's an all-lefty bench sitting against Astros southpaw Framber Valdez. With how much Venable has talked up Joshua Palacios, I thought there might be a sneaky split where he's been better than other options against lefties that would enhance his appeal beyond giving a rest to Tauchman and Benintendi given their multiple leg injuries this year and slow recent results.

Alas, Palacios is 2-for-16 against lefties this year with six strikeouts. And he's a .225/.258/.337 career hitter against same-handed pitching. He's due.

First pitch: White Sox at Astros

TV: CHSN

Radio: ESPN 1000 AM

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