Right-hander Drew Thorpe is dealing with elbow tendinitis during spring training, a reminder that Chicago’s recovering arms should be viewed as house money contributors in 2026.
As spring training ramps up at Camelback Ranch, one of the clear strengths of the Chicago White Sox remains pitching depth.
The elite, top-of-the-rotation star power may not be fully established yet, but there is no shortage of young arms with room to grow at the big-league level. That internal competition — potentially 10 or more viable starters vying for innings — should only raise the standard and the overall floor of the staff as the season progresses.
And it’s going to get even more crowded.
The White Sox have already announced that top pitching prospects Noah Schultz and Hagan Smith will not break camp with the major league team. Still, both are widely expected to make an impact at some point during the 2026 season. When they do, the competition for innings will only intensify.
Another variable in that equation is the group of pitchers working their way back from Tommy John surgery.
The White Sox were hit particularly hard in 2025, losing promising young arms such as Drew Thorpe, Ky Bush, Prelander Berroa, and Mason Adams for the season. As the organization approaches the one-year mark for many of those procedures, more clarity is beginning to emerge regarding potential return timelines.
Thorpe has been a frustrating case for the organization. He was first sidelined during the 2024 season after being shut down with a right elbow flexor strain following his July 31 start. In September 2024, he underwent surgery to remove a bone spur in that same elbow, but the recovery process never fully stabilized.
While rehabbing from the procedure, Thorpe continued to deal with flare-ups and discomfort. He received a cortisone shot in January 2025 in hopes of calming the inflammation, yet another setback soon followed. An MRI ultimately revealed a torn UCL, leading to Tommy John surgery in March 2025.
In total, he spent more than six months working his way back from the initial injury only to require a full ligament reconstruction, significantly resetting his development timeline and pushing his return even further into the future.
Some recent updates have been encouraging. Berroa has already thrown multiple bullpen sessions and could begin a minor league rehab assignment as early as May.
Drew Thorpe’s recovery, however, has recently hit a minor roadblock.
Thorpe is currently dealing with tendinitis in his right elbow and is backing off his throwing progression during spring training. While he continues to play catch, he will not throw off a mound again for approximately three weeks. Thorpe described the issue as a series of “road bumps,” and doctors have reportedly found no ligament damage.
It is a minor setback and not something White Sox fans should panic about just yet. But it does underscore the inherent unpredictability of elbow injuries and recovery timelines.
That reality reinforces why the White Sox must treat Thorpe — and all of their recovering pitchers — as potential bonus additions in 2026 rather than locked-in pieces of the plan. Any contributions from this group would be welcomed, but setbacks are common, and the organization needs to remain deliberate and cautious in managing workloads to protect long-term health and trajectory.
Thorpe, in particular, remains one of the more underrated and, frankly, overlooked players in the organization. His minor league résumé speaks for itself, and he flashed legitimate dominance during stretches of his rookie campaign in 2024. There is real upside there — enough to potentially disrupt the current rotation picture once he’s fully healthy.
But given his present status, it would be premature to expect Thorpe back on a major league mound before the All-Star break.
For now, patience remains the prudent approach.