On the final Monday of the 2023 regular season, here are three things well be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today: 1. Robert being re-evaluated: White Sox center fielder exited yesterdays game against the Red Sox in just the second inning after pulling up uncomfortably while stealing his 20th base of the season. Hes expected to be re-evaluated today as the club Tyrell Terry Jersey arrives back in Chicago before their final homestand of the season. Roberts brilliant season has been one of the few positive things to come out of an otherwise dismal White Sox campaign thats seen them go from expected playoff contenders to deadline sellers and flirting with a 100-lo s season. None of that downturn in production can be attributed to Robert, however, as the star has combined excellent center field defense with a .264/.315/.542 slash line in 595 trips to the plate. The 25-year-old phenoms 75 extra base hits rank second behind only in the AL this year. With the club long since past the point of playing for the playoffs, it would hardly be a shock to see the club shut Robert down for the rest of the year. If he does mi s additional time, appears to be the leading candidate to cover for him in center field. 2. Pitchers duel in the NL Cy Young race: The Padres and Giants are set to play in San Francisco tonight, and the loser of the game could very well wind up mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. If the Diamondbacks manage to take the final game of their road series against the Yankees earlier in the night, the loser of todays matchup in Oracle Park will be officially eliminated from postseason contention. Given the extreme long-shot postseason odds for both San Diego and San Francisco, the pitching matchup is the more intriguing storyline to follow anyhow. Right-hander will take the mound for the Giants, while San Diego will counter with lefty and likely Cy Young front-runner . The 30-year-old Snell is the NLs ERA leader with a 2.39 figure with a strong 31.7% strikeout rate, though his whopping 13.5% walk rate and average of under 5 2/3 innings per start are le s formidable numbers. Webb will likely find himself on plenty of Cy Young ballots as well. The 26-year-old leads all of Major League Baseball with 207 innings pitched, his 3.35 ERA is the fourth-best figure in the NL, and he sports the only groundball rate above 60% among qualified starters, with a 61.6% figure. 3. Series Preview: Astros @ Mariners With the postseason race coming down to the wire for both clubs, the Astros head to Seattle to take on their division-rival Mariners in a three-game set that will have major implications on the races for both the final AL Wild Card spots and the AL West crown. For the division, the Rangers have ridden a five-game winning streak including a three-game sweep of the Mariners this weekend to the top of the AL West standings. They currently sit 2.5 games ahead of the Astros and three games up on the Mariners. Meanwhile, both Houston and Seattle are mired in the midst of rough stretches. The Astros have just an 8-16 record in September, including lo ses in nine of their last 12. By contrast, the Mariners have gone 5-7 over their last 12 games with a 8-14 September record. Even in spite of Seattles struggles, theyve managed to make up ground on Houston, sitting just half a game back of the Astros for the final AL Wild Card spot. The set will kick off this evening with a pitchers duel on the mound: future Hall of Famer (3.44 ERA) will take on Mariners ace (3.06 ERA). Tomorrows game will feature young righties (4.64 ERA) and (3.58 ERA), and the series will close with a contest between Houston lefty (3.39 ERA) and Seattle rookie (4.17 ERA). Justin Jackson Jersey