Veteran right-hander Austin Voth joins the Chicago White Sox on a minor league deal after spending the 2025 season in Japan and having success the last time he pitched in Major League Baseball.
The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms on a minor league contract with right-handed pitcher Austin Voth.
Voth has also received a non-roster invitation to major league spring training and will report to camp with the club as he competes for a role on the 2026 roster.
The 32-year-old last pitched in the big leagues in 2024 with the Seattle Mariners, where he posted a 3.69 ERA across 68 relief appearances. It was one of the more productive seasons of his career, as Voth owns a 4.70 ERA over 360.1 innings from 2018–2024.
He had one productive season as a starting pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles in 2022 before transitioning primarily to a bullpen role over the next two seasons. After the 2024 campaign, Voth spent the 2025 season in Japan with the Chiba Lotte Marines, returning to a starting role and posting a 3.96 ERA. Solid, but not dominant — and likely a factor in why he returns to the United States on a minor league contract rather than a guaranteed big league contract.
It remains unclear whether the White Sox view Voth as rotation depth or a bullpen option. Given his recent success in relief and the deep pool of starting pitching in the organization, a bullpen path may offer the clearest route back to the majors. Still, adding an arm with 207 big league appearances and flashes of legitimate success provides meaningful depth for an organization that values pitching inventory.
And the underlying metrics from 2024 have my attention.
While Voth does not profile as a power arm, he generated elite levels of soft contact during his last MLB season. He ranked in the 98th percentile in average exit velocity allowed and the 99th percentile in hard-hit percentage. His expected ERA (3.34) and expected batting average against (.212) both outperformed his actual results, suggesting his strong season had little to do with batted ball luck.
For a pitcher not known for overpowering hitters, his 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings were more than adequate. The biggest difference between the effective 2024 version of Voth and the pitcher who struggled to a 5.19 ERA in 2023 was pitch usage — specifically the cutter.
In 2023, Voth leaned heavily on his four-seam fastball, throwing it 44% of the time, while using his cutter just 11%. In 2024, that approach flipped. His four-seam usage dropped to 24%, while the cutter jumped to 34%. The additional movement created more imbalance for hitters and helped generate regular weak contact.
There are, however, limitations. Voth does not possess high-end velocity, which can make it difficult to trust him in high-leverage spots. His ground-ball rate is also really low for a cutter-heavy pitcher, leaving a narrow margin for error. That profile may explain why teams were hesitant to guarantee him an MLB deal heading into his age-33 season.
From Voth’s perspective, if a guaranteed MLB contract was not available last winter, taking a starting opportunity in Japan made sense. And now, he comes back to the U.S. for another chance at extending his big league career.
If you're the White Sox, this is the type of low-risk move that organizations in transition should be making. There is no financial downside, and there is measurable upside if the 2024 version of Voth reappears.
It will be worth monitoring how Chicago deploys him in camp and whether the organization views him as rotation insurance, bullpen competition, or simply experienced depth. Either way, it is a sensible addition as the White Sox continue building out their pitching options for the season ahead.