Pregame notes: It’s about to get interesting

Will Venable called it "another level of special and another level of grit that our guys showed," to get out of Cleveland with a split and the division lead, but it turns out games against a last place Boston team (which has won eight of their last 10) also count in a division race. The Guardians are playing a Twins team that simultaneously is only four games out of first place, but just put Byron Buxton on the injured list.

It's just that from a news perspective, there are some other things to look forward to this week. Sometime in the 12 o'clock hour on Saturday afternoon, the White Sox will pick first overall in the MLB Draft. But before that, Munetaka Murakami could be back on the White Sox active roster.

"He’s going to play tonight at first base, five to seven innings and see how it goes," Venable said. "There’s a game plan to build him up throughout the week, kind of take it day by day to see how he’s feeling and recovering and see if he’s getting enough at-bats. And then hopefully at some point before the break, we’ll activate him."

In this interview below with Kendall Smith, Charlotte Knights manager Chad Pinder plotted a three-day plan with Murakami playing first base in his first two games, which points to a scenario where he could be activated ahead of the A's series.

"We will have to option someone or send someone out," Venable said. "These guys have continued to have the same energy, the same focus on the field, been able to play at a high level even in [Murakami's] absence is really telling of the way we’ve been going about these games and the way we’ve been winning them. And also Jacob [Gonzalez] individually has done a great job in Mune’s absence."

Gonzalez has hit .382/.432/.588 over his last 10 games.

It's a less ballyhooed and less imminent return, but Venable said Austin Hays' continued ramp-up could have him on a rehab assignment after the All-Star break. Everson Pereira is still having post-concussion symptoms flare up at times, and doesn't have as specific of a timeline. In their stead, Junior Pérez continues to be the right-handed corner bat who starts against lefties.

Also nearing is a trade deadline that offers more potential instant gratification than watching Gage Ziehl starts on MiLB.TV might have brought last August. As you might have anticipated, Venable's comments on potential moves were not particularly spicy.

"We are always looking to get better," Venable said. "There are a lot of different areas where we can get better. I’m focused on what we can control. There’s stuff defensively, baserunning-wise, the way we are executing on the mound we need to improve. My job is to make sure we are doing a better job internally. [Chris Getz] will figure out what additions might be able to help us out."

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It would be surprising to see Seranthony Domínguez get a particularly high-leverage opportunity while his manager is discussing the idea of him commanding the strike zone as this organization-wide project.

"His stuff just moves so much," Venable said. "We are trying to harness his stuff and get it into the zone. I think that’s something we know all the guys are working on. It’s important to pitching. For him it’s different considerations, whether it be catcher targeting or when he’s trying to start some of these pitchers. We just have to find a way to get him in the zone."

But absent a Proven Closer™️, Venable seems more than happy to just go back to managing the late innings in the fluid manner to which he was already predisposed.

"You can call these guys whatever you want to call them and we are going to find the best spot for these guys to be successful, and do everything we can to find the right pockets of opposing lineups, and there’s all kinds of considerations as we try to find a path to the end of these games," Venable said. "It's going to look different every single night."

"It's still the same game, it's still the same thing, so any situation that you're thrown out there as important," said Trevor Richards, who has gone from mop-up work to multiple high-leverage opportunities of recent. "You've got to go at it the same way you would in a five-run game."

First pitch: White Sox vs. Red Sox

TV: CHSN

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