Pregame notes: Brooks Baldwin to IL, Tim Elko returns for Round 3

In addition to the new Bobby Jenks artwork on this tiny little door next to the home dugout, the White Sox announced that the '45' patches in honor of the late two-time All-Star will debut on Thursday against the Guardians. They will be worn for the rest of the season.

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The Sox were relatively late to post a lineup on Wednesday morning, Brooks Baldwin entered the clubhouse and immediately met with training staff, and one player very audibly asked "is Tim Elko here yet?"

All of which seemed to signal a roster move was coming, and lo and behold:

Will Venable explained the rationale that Baldwin was not going to be available to play Wednesday nor Thursday, with uncertainty for the weekend. And well, if he wasn't going to be back right away when there are only five games before the All-Star break, it's time to get a new body in.

Tim Elko hit .314/.385/.600 over his most recent 18-game pocket in Triple-A, albeit with a 33.3 percent strikeout rate, but it doesn't seem like he has any assurances beyond filling out the current roster need.

"We'll take it day by day here, and we're gonna put whatever guys, as we evaluate where guys are at physically and we evaluate matchups, we'll put our best foot forward every day," said Will Venable. "I think that'll include Tim on some days for sure."

An extra wrinkle to all this is that Baldwin is the emergency catcher, having played the position regularly in high school. So whatever willingness the Sox still had to start Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero in the same lineup might have left the active roster with Baldwin.

"It's much easier to have one of them on the bench," Venable said. "You do get into some binds if you DH one of them, but that's something that we're open and willing to do if the time is right. Today might have been one of those times if Brooksie was available. With where we're at, we might have seen Teel DH today, but we ended up making the roster move and that didn't happen, obviously. But it's something that we're open to doing if it gives us the best chance, just knowing that it can handcuff you there a little bit."

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Luis Robert Jr. returned from his hamstring strain Tuesday night, and while Venable acknowledged some tentativeness in his play, he says he's fine.

"I feel good," Robert said via interpreter. "Just little by little. It’s just getting into the game rhythm. It’s an adjustment. But I feel good, and when my body is asking me for more, I’ll go for more."

Trade rumors have circled around Robert for oh, the last 18 months or so. As a result, there is not going to be some new level of expression of annoyance about his situation unless something drastic happens.

"It’s not in my hands," Robert said via interpreter. "That’s on the people who make decisions and whatever they want to do."

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It's been raining this afternoon. Estimated first pitch has been pushed back to 1:20pm.

First pitch: White Sox vs. Blue Jays

TV: CHSN, MLB Network (out-of-market)

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