CHICAGO -- Eloy Jiménez is not expected to play this weekend against the Cubs in the final series of the 2020 season, as the White Sox left fielder was diagnosed with a right mid-foot sprain. Jiménez suffered the injury while scoring on Nomar Mazara’s seventh-inning single Thursday in Cleveland and left the game in the bottom of the inning.

Manager Rick Renteria wouldn’t speculate on how this injury could affect Jiménez going into the postseason.

“Right now, we're just straight out day to day,” Renteria said. “There's some inflammation in there that they want to calm down, and we'll know more in a few days, after continuing to get it treated.

“They're going to continue to treat him up, and he'll be off his feet for a few days and see if they can calm it down. And then we'll get to reevaluating again through the weekend and on Monday.”

Jiménez, who started his career with the Cubs, has one home run in his last 11 games. But he also leads the Majors with 25 two-out RBIs this season.

“Let’s hope I can play,” Jiménez said. “It doesn’t feel good, because we are in the playoffs.

“For me right now, this just kind of sucks. But it’s still a possibility I could play, so I’m not going to give up. I’m going to do whatever I need to do to play and help the team win.”

Marshall returns
Right-handed reliever Evan Marshall was reinstated from the 10-day injured list prior to Friday’s series opener with the Cubs. Fellow right-hander José Ruiz was optioned to the team’s alternate training facility in Schaumburg, Ill.

Marshall, 30, was out since Sept. 18 (retroactive to Sept. 15) with right shoulder inflammation.

“Honestly, the DL stint was kind of a precaution,” said Marshall, who has a 2.49 ERA, eight holds and 29 strikeouts over 21 2/3 innings in 22 relief appearances. “But the inflammation is gone and about halfway through my DL time I sort of woke up feeling better than ever. At this point, I’m pretty confident in being able to contribute.”

Left-handers Aaron Bummer and Carlos Rodón rejoined the team Thursday, giving the White Sox a top-notch playoff-looking bullpen with the ability to shorten games against upcoming opponents.

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be,” Marshall said. “Going into a playoff series and knowing you are going to get [Lucas] Giolito and [Dallas] Keuchel and have to pitch to our lineup and then seeing the plethora of hard-throwing left-handed arms we have down there and guys like me who can just sort of get it done different ways.

“It’s pretty exciting knowing the talent that’s on this team and how we match up with other squads. Good luck if you are throwing a left-handed starter against us.”

SoxFest canceled
The White Sox announced the cancellation of SoxFest 2021 via a team statement released Friday morning.

“Each season, the entire organization looks forward to bringing our team and fans together at our annual fan fest in celebration of a new season of White Sox baseball,” the statement read. “Given the uncertainty of the ongoing public health crisis, SoxFest 2021, scheduled to be held Jan. 22-23, 2021, at McCormick Place, has been canceled.”

Additional updates about virtual programming will be announced in the coming months, as the White Sox explore new ways to connect with fans this winter, per the statement.

Third to first
• Renteria said three candidates existed for the White Sox third starter in a potential Game 3 of the best-of-three Wild Card Series. Those pitchers would be Dylan Cease, Dane Dunning and Reynaldo López, although López is scheduled to pitch Sunday and would be working on short rest.

• The White Sox won two of three games at Wrigley Field during the first series between the two from Aug. 21-23, and the White Sox hold a 64-61 all-time edge.

• Right-handed pitcher Ian Hamilton was claimed off waivers by the Mariners.

• The White Sox will be giving fans free "Change the Game" White Sox flags Monday afternoon from noon to 7 p.m. CT, while supplies last. Fans can pick up the flag, in advance of Tuesday’s Wild Card Series opener, by driving through a popup tent located in Lot B near the Chicago Sports Depot at Guaranteed Rate Field.

They said it
"We've got to play wherever it is. But it'd be nice to be here. We're hoping that that's what ends up happening.” -- Renteria, on getting home-field advantage in the Wild Card Series.

“There's a lot of things we've been doing well, but we just haven't put that punctuation mark like we had the first probably 50 games of the season.” -- Keuchel on the team’s 1-6 road trip.