Jose Urquidy Rescues White Sox Pitching Staff in Crosstown Classic

The pitching issues for the Chicago White Sox have been very real and incredibly worrisome. With multiple question marks in the starting rotation and a completely taxed bullpen, the White Sox found themselves looking for answers during the Crosstown Classic this week against the Chicago Cubs.

On two consecutive nights, the White Sox were walked off after holding the lead in the late innings, largely due to their pitching staff being burnt out and not having their best bullpen arms available.

During Wednesday's matinee and the season series finale, it was hard to see how the White Sox were even going to get through the game, let alone come away with a victory.

Then veteran right-handed pitcher Jose Urquidy put his new team on his back.

After Sean Newcomb opened for the White Sox with two scoreless innings on 34 pitches, Urquidy made quick work of the Cubs lineup. He struck out eight of the first 10 batters he faced, pounding the strike zone with 51 strikes and only 17 balls. All of his pitches were moving, he was working ahead, and quite frankly, he had Cubs hitters in a blender all afternoon.

Urquidy finished the game with six scoreless innings, allowing two hits, zero runs, zero walks, and striking out eight. He got the White Sox through the eighth, then handed the keys over to Grant Taylor, who promptly slammed the door on a White Sox win and his seventh save of the 2026 season.

Urquidy, a longtime veteran for the Houston Astros who has pitched in the World Series in multiple seasons, is now 2-0 with a 2.79 ERA since joining the White Sox in just two outings, and he's made a great case for more opportunities with the team as they look to resolve their pitching issues.

Not every game will be this dominant. Some of them may not even be quality starts, but the main issue for the White Sox right now is where they can get reliable innings from. And as long as Urquidy is throwing strikes and getting some length in his outings to provide rest for the bullpen, he'll deserve to stay with the White Sox.

What they do with the other spot in the starting rotation remains to be seen. I still think it would be a wise move for Chicago to call up starting pitching help, with someone like Drew Thorpe seemingly ready to go after multiple rehab starts as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery.

The White Sox could move Erick Fedde back to the bullpen and slide Thorpe into the starting rotation, with Urquidy filling that fifth spot until Davis Martin returns from the IL and the White Sox can assess what he's got left in the tank.

Bullpen games won't be sustainable the rest of the way, especially because they're unlikely to turn out as well as Wednesday afternoon did moving forward.

But given the situation, Jose Urquidy did the White Sox a big solid on Wednesday, and the White Sox escaped Wrigley Field with a win because of it.

They also managed to maintain a decent distance between them and the rest of the AL Central, while the Minnesota Twins closed the gap to 4.0 games with a series sweep over the Atlanta Braves. The White Sox held the Tigers at bay, 5.5 games out of first place, with Cleveland sitting 5.0 games back as of Wednesday afternoon.