Forgotten White Sox Pitchers Could Soon Join MLB Roster

If there's one thing the Chicago White Sox undoubtedly need to address before the end of the 2026 season, it's the starting rotation.

White Sox pitching has been just good enough to help the team reach a 45-40 record and build a 1.0-game lead in the AL Central. But entering play on Wednesday, the White Sox rank second in MLB in home runs. They're also a top-10 offense in runs scored and a top-five offense in team OPS. A lineup like that should be firmly in the playoff picture if it's complemented by the right pitching.

At times, uncompetitive pitching has held the White Sox back. And as we look ahead to the second half of the 2026 season and a potential playoff run, a young and inexperienced White Sox rotation may not have what it takes to give Chicago a legitimate chance.

First and foremost, the White Sox need innings. Chicago's top three starting pitchers, Davis Martin, Sean Burke, and Anthony Kay, have never thrown 150 innings in a professional season in the United States (Kay once threw 155 innings while pitching professionally in Japan).

Erick Fedde is the most experienced starting pitcher of the bunch, and he may not be pitching well enough to hold onto a rotation spot for the entire season. It's also been more than two months since Fedde completed more than five innings in a single outing. That's simply not a sustainable formula moving forward.

It's really no wonder the White Sox are expected to look for external additions to the pitching staff at the trade deadline. But let's not overlook the possible reinforcements already within the organization. Two forgotten White Sox starting pitchers are beginning rehab assignments from injury and could soon work their way back onto the MLB roster.

Right-handers Shane Smith and Tanner McDougal are both scheduled to pitch on Wednesday for the High-A Winston-Salem Dash. Smith is expected to throw two innings, while McDougal will throw one as both pitchers officially begin their rehab assignments.

Smith was an MLB All-Star as a rookie in 2025 and got the ball for the White Sox on Opening Day in 2026. Chicago expected him to emerge as the ace of the rotation and a key part of the team's success this season.

That hasn't happened.

Smith made just three starts for the White Sox, posting a 10.80 ERA while allowing 12 hits, 10 earned runs, and nine walks over 8.1 innings before being optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. He then threw just 13.2 innings with Charlotte, recording a 5.27 ERA before landing on the injured list on May 2. He has not pitched since.

Some of Shane Smith's regression and struggles this season are pretty inexplicable. He posted a 3.81 ERA over 146.1 innings in 2025, and while some metrics suggested he would take a step back, it's surprising that he hasn't been a serviceable arm at any level this year.

The White Sox's overall success has turned what would normally be a disastrous storyline into a forgotten subplot of the 2026 season. But now that Smith is healthy again, we can't rule out the possibility of him becoming a significant weapon for the White Sox down the stretch.

Even if it takes another month for him to get stretched back out and regain his rhythm, the upside with Shane Smith is still that of the All-Star we saw in 2025. Adding an arm with that kind of potential to the rotation after the trade deadline could provide exactly the boost the White Sox pitching staff needs.

If it's not Smith, perhaps it's Tanner McDougal, the No. 6 prospect in Chicago's farm system and the highest-ranked right-handed pitching prospect in the organization.

McDougal posted a 3.00 ERA through six starts in 2026 and looked like the next man up whenever the White Sox needed rotation reinforcements. But just as it seemed his MLB debut was drawing near, he landed on the injured list on April 30 with a flexor strain and right forearm tightness. That's nothing to mess around with, and the White Sox certainly didn't.

McDougal went two months without appearing in a game. While his return on July 1 comes with no guarantee that he'll avoid another setback, if everything goes according to plan, we could still see him make his MLB debut at some point this season.

Watching McDougal pitch, the upside is pretty obvious. Even if he doesn't immediately become a full-time member of the starting rotation, any meaningful contribution would go a long way given the current state of the White Sox pitching staff.

More importantly, it would give Chicago an opportunity to evaluate exactly what it has in McDougal before entering a crucial offseason filled with difficult decisions as Chris Getz continues building a legitimate contender.

We'll learn a lot more in the coming days and weeks as both Smith and McDougal continue their rehab assignments. But if the White Sox are searching for pitching reinforcements, internal options may be just as likely as external additions at this point.