Pregame notes: Just when you think Luis Robert Jr. is out, he pulls himself back in

The original lineup for Sunday's series finale had Luis Robert Jr. sidelined for the third-straight game, still dealing with adductor/groin soreness. Around 11:00am, he was working on the field with training staff--as he had been the previous two days--before his session ended with a long conversation with head trainer James Kruk and others.

Another 20-30 minutes afterward, a new lineup emerged with Robert at designated hitter, replacing Austin Slater.

"The initial evaluation, he came in feeling better but still not in a spot where he could get out there in center field," Will Venable said. "We wanted to keep him plugged in and give him the opportunity to run around more, and he did. We talked about it, and he really talked his way into the lineup after that. We agreed that maybe center field wasn't the best thing for him but that we could utilize his bat and that he was good to go to DH."

Because the lingering memory of Tony La Russa saying two-thirds of the 2022 lineup had been instructed not to run hard due to injury risk is hard to shake, Venable was asked if Robert had similar instructions. The current Sox manager seemed...less than comfortable with this concept.

"He's going to go out there and compete and play the right way, and if he's not able to do that, we wouldn't have him out there," Venable said. "At the same time, I'm probably not going to ask him to steal third base. That's fair. But he's going to be out on a major league field and running around, not to the degree we're used to, but he'll be out there."

It's hard, but not impossible, to get traded for Mark Vientos while sitting on the bench.

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Three of the top four batters in the Cubs lineup are power-hitting lefties, so Grant Taylor will need to be landing his curveball this afternoon. But it also set up the exactly sort of environment that has led to the Sox using an opener for Sean Burke before.

"Grant was one of the guys [who was] not just available but we have to have pitch," Venable said. "As we were strategizing and looking at the weapons we have, we just thought it made sense to put Grant where we like him in the lineup, at the top, against the top of their order. And we've seen Sean really respond well to the opener, as well. We thought the combination of those two and that order was us putting our best foot forward."

Burke has a 3.12 ERA in 17 1/3 innings in the three outings where he's had an opener, compared to a 4.41 ERA mark in 83 2/3 innings of a starter, which is the sort of small sample size theater we love to draw conclusions from.

Despite Venable's intimation that Taylor is rested, he was not eager to declare that two innings was a possibility. The Sox manager seemed concerned about Burke being able to enter a clean inning, which would be put in jeopardy if Taylor runs into choppy waters before getting six outs.

"We're going to talk about what this looks like," Venable said. "Maybe. But also you have to think about the transition from Grant to the next person and the implications of that."

Despite the threat of innings limits on the horizon for Burke, Venable said he will have no restrictions on Sunday.

"Frankly, we need him to probably pitch deep into this game," Venable said.

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The late, great Dick Allen is getting inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday. What this goofy video of Sox pitchers trying to juggle like him misses is that, well, pitchers are weirdos who are doing things during the game to soothe their hyperactive minds.

Get Lenyn Sosa to juggle on camera and then we'll have something.

First pitch: White Sox vs. Cubs

TV: CHSN, Marquee (Cubs)

Radio: ESPN 1000 AM, 670 AM The Score (Cubs), WRTO 1200 AM (Spanish)

Lineups: