Pregame notes: Saturday sideshow

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- There are barely more than 48 hours until the trade deadline and the White Sox are still hoping to land some starting pitching, even if the extreme seller's market prices have them repeatedly reiterating their intention to hold onto the best pieces of their farm system.

"Obviously the deadline is hectic, as everybody knows and means something different for every team," said farm director Paul Janish. "But with the amount of the teams that are 'in the race,' it's a little bit tougher problem to solve I think in a lot of organizations. For me and us, it's a good problem to have. The major league team is having success. We've had a ton of guys come up from the system that have come up and really helped the major league team in meaningful ways."

With that at the front of everyone's minds, maybe it's of less interest how the White Sox fare with using Jordan Hicks as an opener for the currently shakiest member of their rotation, 22-year-old rookie Noah Schultz.

"With the lineup that Tampa runs out there against left-handed pitching, you Jordan has been as as good as it gets for for us versus right-handed [hitting] especially, and to take care of the top of the order this first time through, thought it was really important to set the tone with Jordan," said Will Venable. "There's going to be adjustments that [Schultz] makes with his routine, we talked it through yesterday. He'll make some adjustments, and we'll have a pretty firm entry point for him, so he can prepare and make sure that he's locked in."

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Janish was on hand to announce some minor league assignments for 2026 draftees. But after a bunch of college draftees made their debut at Low-A Kannapolis on Friday night, and with all the high school picks prepared to spend their summers playing bridge league games at the complex in Arizona, there's really just one announcement worth waiting on.

"Roch [Cholowsky] will start his affiliate life in Winston-Salem this week; he'll travel Monday and be ready to play with the team on Tuesday," Janish said. "It’s the best place for him to get off and get going. If I’m being honest about Roch’s ability, he could go to pretty much any level we have. I think it’s important to remember the trajectory with the hope for the major leagues at some point, we are just introducing him to the pro level.

"It’s the first time he’ll have the opportunity to play six games in one week. So, just getting him going with the understanding you have to take into consideration the fact that he’s got to get built up."

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Janish went on to say that he expects Hagen Smith and Tanner McDougal to help out the major league bullpen at some point this year, but will return to starting next spring. David Sandlin and Shane Smith are going to continue to start for now, but maybe Janish's rosiest comments for a Triple-A starter were made about Jonathan Cannon.

Cannon has held opposing hitters to a .165/.214/.320 line in 28 innings over his last five starts with the Knights.

"I would give Jonathan a ton of credit just with the mentality," Janish said. "Obviously he wants to be back at the major league level, he's strung together four or five good starts if we're being honest. I think his acknowledging mentally that I'm just going to be good where my feet are, has been really, really important for him, and it's kind of shown."

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The White Sox went 13-12 in July, their third-consecutive winning month.

They are attempting to become the first team in MLB history to make the playoffs after consecutive 100-loss seasons. Goes without saying they'd be the first to do it after three-straight 100-loss seasons.

After Miguel Vargas homered Friday night, hitting coach Derek Shomon is unsurprisingly still wearing Vargas' single dangly earring.

First pitch: White Sox at Rays

TV: CHSN

Radio: ESPN 1000 AM

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