Pregame notes: Texas-sized opportunity

HOUSTON -- Does it feel like the White Sox have had some good results of recent in the Astros home park?

No, it doesn't. If they win Wednesday or Thursday night, it will mark their first series win in Houston since 2016.

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Chase Meidroth is getting the night off, but it sounds like it will probably be half the night off unless there's a blowout. Will Venable indicated Meidroth's likely to be seen later in the game and his pinch-hitting/running tendencies are well-established at this point.

Jonathan Cannon (lower back) played catch in front of training staff. Lenyn Sosa (hip flexor) took infield and batting practice. Michael A. Taylor also took infield for some reason. He's got 10 years of service time, he can do what he wants.

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Left-hander Framber Valdez is starting on Thursday for the Astros, which presents a natural opportunity for Kyle Teel to get a night off and Edgar Quero to catch his first game of the series. But it also sounds like there's a hierarchy at play here to their playing time split.

"We want a little more out of Edgar, to be honest, defensively," Venable said. "There’s some things receiving-wise that he continues to work on."

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Miguel Vargas is hitting .179/.281/.286 in June through nine games. There's nothing worrisome about his strikeout-to-walk ratio, but Venable acknowledged the idea that he's a touch off.

"We are seeing him chase a little bit more," Venable said. "Maybe not turning around some of the good pitches he’s seeing, some swing and miss in the zone. But he’s not far off. It’s in his DNA to control the zone and make good swing decisions. He has to get back to it and we expect him to do that tonight."

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Sean Burke has a 2.37 ERA in 19 innings over his last three starts, striking out 17 and walking just five. He said after his last start that he feels like he's pitching his best ball of the season, and he's historically been able to control the zone the best against right-handers, of which the Astros offer plenty.

"I can’t say for sure that this is objectively true," Venable said. "For me, It’s about fastball command. When I’m watching one of his starts and he’s throwing his fastball in the zone and has command of the fastball, he’s really good. In general, we know that pounding the zone matters. But specifically with a fastball opens up a lot for him. We’ve seen that the last few starts."

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Venable has seen that photo of the pope. What was more rewarding was floating the idea to him that the sitting pope has opinions on how he's doing his job, and watching that revelation wash over his typically kind and even-keeled demeanor.

"I don’t know, I didn’t think about that," Venable said. "If he’s a fan and locked into who the manager is, hopefully. But I’m just glad that he’s supportive of the White Sox. That’s awesome."

First pitch: White Sox at Astros

TV: CHSN

Radio: ESPN 1000 AM

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