Luis Robert Jr. is out of the lineup, with a left-handed opposing starter on the mound no less, but he spent a lot of the time on the field testing out his sore groin with team trainers for someone who is supposedly about to get traded at any moment.
"He has some soreness with the adductor," Will Venable said. "He felt it in the ninth inning on the stolen base. He was able to finish [the game] and got good information, feels good. So we're just being cautious, don't want to push him too much here. He's day-to-day. We expect him to be available today and in there tomorrow."
The White Sox continue to hold the posture in trades that they are willing to pick up Robert's 2026 option if offers don't improve, and are hopeful that his recent offensive upturn will juice the interest he already has from multiple contenders, who largely view him as a compelling buy-low candidate. That said, a one-year, $20 million upside play doesn't sound like the sort of action the White Sox have chased in free agency in recent years. Their disappointment in the current class of offers has to be weighed against the risk they'd incur to run it back with someone whose offensive struggles have confounded them for a minute now.
Generally, the Sox have pieces to move at the deadline, but even in the case of Friday night's starting pitcher, they don't have anyone's first option to solve a big need. So while they expect to be fairly busy on Thursday, they wouldn't anticipate deals for the likes of Austin Slater and Steven Wilson to be projects that teams are pushing to complete much before the deadline.
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Robert's not the only injured Sox player worth paying attention to, just the only one whose progress is notable for other teams.
Shane Smith is scheduled to throw a three-inning live bullpen on Saturday, which should say a lot about whether he's available to return from the injured list (left ankle sprain) as soon as he's available.
Tim Elko (right knee sprain) was testing out his knee with trainers on Friday and is on a running progression, but a rehab assignment is not yet imminent, per Venable.
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Andrew Benintendi's hilariously stark splits on the season certainly support the position he's manning on Friday night.
As a left fielder: .206/.267/.361, 73 wRC+
As a designated hitter: .287/.373/.535, 146 wRC+.
First pitch: White Sox vs. Cubs
TV: CHSN
Radio: ESPN 1000 AM
Lineups:
| Cubs | White Sox | |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Busch, 1B | 1 | Chase Meidroth, SS |
| Kyle Tucker, RF | 2 | Austin Slater, LF |
| Seiya Suzuki, DH | 3 | Edgar Quero, C |
| Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF | 4 | Andrew Benintendi, DH |
| Ian Happ, LF | 5 | Miguel Vargas, 1B |
| Dansby Swanson, SS | 6 | Lenyn Sosa, 2B |
| Nico Hoerner, 2B | 7 | Mike Tauchman, RF |
| Reese McGuire, C | 8 | Michael A. Taylor, CF |
| Vidal Bruján, 3B | 9 | Colson Montgomery, 3B |
| Shota Imanaga | SP | Adrian Houser |
