Pregame notes: Maybe get it together, I don’t know

MILWAUKEE -- The White Sox, to be blunt, have been getting whooped upon in Wisconsin this weekend. But at least they have left-hander Anthony Kay to flip the Brewers; lineup construction, even if Will Venable's answer on what he wants to see from the southpaw has some real Exhausted Dad on The Family Vacation from Hell energy to it.

"Throw strikes, that would be it," Venable said.

He said nice things about Kay, it should be noted.

"He’s just a pro," Venable said. "He has an idea of what he wants to do on a daily basis, whether it’s in the weight room, training room, in his bullpens. The time he puts into his PFPs, he’s just a total pro. Really cares about his entire game, a really good example for our guys."

That the White Sox have yet to play a good game of regular season baseball in 2026 should not be seen as evidence that they never will, many insist.

"They are not pretty right now, but if we lost by one run each game, it’s the same results," said Andrew Benintendi. "Definitely need to clean some things up on both sides of the ball. [The Brewers] have a good team, they have good arms, they are scrappy at the plate. So, just get the first one out of the way and I think we’ll roll."

Benintendi talked about the two early doubles that dropped in on him in left. The bloop that dropped in front of him just sounds like a combination of playing deep and his limited range, but Benintendi described the first play at the wall as him realizing he wasn't going to be able to make a leaping catch at the wall and shifting to damage control.

"I was going back trying to time up my jump," Benintendi said. "I don’t think I was going to be able to get it. At that point, I’m trying to keep it to a double and not let it ricochet off the fence into a triple."

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Sunday's lineup is a good opportunity remind everyone that Brewers rookie Jefferson Quero and White Sox catcher Edgar Quero are not related, nor even from the same country.

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It's been two games and two bombs, and Munetaka Murakami has already voyaged from sixth to second in the White Sox batting order. It's less of a jump than that sounds, given the way the Sox have staggered the handedness of all three lineups this season, but Murakami and Chase Meidroth are at the top of things for the reason you would expect.

"Right now Chase and Mune are in a really good spot," Venable said. "A similar structure, going Chase, lefty, right, lefty, righty, lefty, so it doesn’t change a ton other than we want to get consecutive good things in a row and those guys are locked in right now."

Consecutive good things in a row? In this economy?

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The next White Sox hit with runners in scoring position will be the first of 2026. No word yet on if confetti will drop from the retractable roof for the occasion. Probably not, but it would be amusingly patronizing if it did.

First pitch: White Sox at Brewers

TV: CHSN

Radio: ESPN 1000 AM

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