Cleveland (40-35) at Chicago (39-34), first pitch 6:40 PM CT to kick off the series. Gavin Williams gets the ball for the Guardians against Anthony Kay for the White Sox, and yes, that is a sentence written in 2026 about a White Sox team that is one game over .500 in late June.
The Sox are the bigger story here. They just got punched around in the Bronx (12-2 and 10-5 in the first two games) before salvaging Monday's 5-1 win to fly home with some dignity intact. Will Venable's group has built actual dominance at Rate Field this year, including a 6-4 win over the Dodgers last week, and now they get a Guardians team that just lost its best player and has been sleepwalking through a stretch where they went 1-2-1 over their last 4 vs Detroit and Milwaukee.
Cleveland is operating without Jose Ramirez, who had hamate surgery and is staring down a 5-to-7 week absence. Gabriel Arias was activated to soak up at-bats at third and Daniel Schneemann is the other half of the puzzle, but you don't replace a perennial MVP candidate with a platoon and pretend nothing happened. Throw in Chase DeLauter (ribs) and Angel Martinez (foot) on the IL and the lineup card the Guardians hand over Monday night is thinner than the season record suggests.
- Day-To-DayTanner Burns SP — no
- Day-To-DayCarlos Hernandez RP — Hernandez (shoulder) began his rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha on Friday.
- 10-Day-ILChase DeLauter RF — The Guardians placed DeLauter (rib) on the 10-day injured list Wednesday, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILJose Ramirez 3B — Ramirez underwent surgery to address the hamate bone fracture in his left hand Tuesday and is expected to be sidelined 5-to-7 weeks, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.
- 10-Day-ILAngel Martinez LF — Martinez (foot) will be placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday, reports Cade Cracas of Sports Illustrated.
- 15-Day-ILErik Sabrowski RP — Sabrowski (elbow) allowed two unearned runs and one walk while striking out two over a hitless two-thirds of an inning for Double-A Akron on Wednesday.
- Day-To-DaySean Newcomb RP — Newcomb notched a save against the Royals on Thursday, allowing one hit and striking out one batter over two scoreless innings.
- Day-To-DayHagen Smith SP — Smith will be shut down for two weeks after being diagnosed with a left shoulder impingement, James Fegan of SoxMachine.com reports.
- Day-To-DayTim Elko 1B — no
- Day-To-DayMason Adams RP — The White Sox announced that Adams underwent successful Tommy John surgery Wednesday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.
- 7-day ilEverson Pereira RF — The White Sox activated Pereira (pectoral) from the 10-day injured list Thursday.
- 10-Day-ILMunetaka Murakami 1B — White Sox manager Will Venable said Monday that Murakami (hamstring) stayed back in Chicago during the team's road trip and was given a platelet-rich plasma injection, James Fegan of SoxMachine.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILNoah Schultz SP — Schultz (knee) will begin a minor-league rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday, James Fegan of SoxMachine.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILJordan Hicks RP — Hicks (lat) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte on Saturday, James Fegan of SoxMachine.com reports.
Chicago is dealing with its own pitching headaches — Hagen Smith got shut down 2 weeks with a shoulder impingement and Noah Schultz is still rehabbing — but they did just activate Everson Pereira off the IL, and the bullpen depth that's quietly been Venable's best card all year is intact. Sean Newcomb has been picking up high-leverage outs, including a 2-inning save against Kansas City earlier in the road trip.
Two days ago this looked like a clean Cleveland series. Without Ramirez and on the road against a Sox club playing its best ball at home, it's anything but. The Guardians need Williams to set the tone or this turns into a long week on the South Side.