Pregame notes: Are they really going to play this game today?

Sometimes you spend a lot of Tuesday afternoon talking with team officials about the logic behind trade targets rarely getting scratched from lineups until a deal is pretty close, in anticipation of a full afternoon of loyal Sox Machine readers wondering why on Earth the team would risk starting Adrian Houser the day before the trade deadline.

Only for the team to go ahead and just scratch the guy from his start, the day before the deadline. And in explaining the decision to swap out Houser for a Tyler Alexander-led bullpen game, Will Venable didn't bother hiding the ball.

"With Houser, we were transparent with him, just the market around him and the potential for a trade," Venable said. "Just thought it was in everyone's best interest to switch starters today."

While Alexander can go multiple innings and has started earlier in this season for the Brewers, he hasn't thrown more than 50 pitches in any outing this month and Venable said it will be all hands on deck to piece together nine innings. All hands except Dan Altavilla, who pitched the last two innings of Tuesday night's game. There should be multiple innings of Mike Vasil. How many of those innings will be thrown with the Batman mask on is anyone's guess.

Luis Robert Jr. is still in the lineup, despite continued interest from the Mets, Phillies and others making a trade a possibility for him as well

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One stipulation is that playing a baseball game on Wednesday in Chicaggo looks like a fraught proposition at best due to a forecast full of rain. The White Sox and Phillies had a meeting around noon to discuss the weather conditions, and the start time is already officially delayed.

While both teams are off on Thursday, the Sox are scheduled to fly to Los Angeles on Wednesday night and the Phillies have their own logistical issues with arranging to extend their stay. A mutual off day in September sounds like a more plausible option if this game is postponed.

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Will Robertson arrived Wednesday morning fresh off mashing at Triple-A Charlotte to take Austin Slater's vacated roster spot, but is a left-hander himself. Venable pointed out that the team usually sits one of Mike Tauchman or Andrew Benintendi against left-handed starters to get Slater into the lineup, and now will just be playing both against southpaws more often. But he also suggested Brooks Baldwin could see a boost in playing time.

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Martín Pérez is headed to Triple-A Charlotte on Thursday to begin a rehab assignment. Pérez just threw two simulated innings on Monday, so he will not be starting until Saturday. He'll probably need three outings to ramp up.

First pitch: White Sox vs. Phillies

TV: CHSN

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

Lineups: