Anthony Kay Becoming a Reliable Playoff Option for White Sox

While starting pitching has been a prominent concern for the Chicago White Sox in 2026 and remains an issue even after the trade deadline, left-handed starter Anthony Kay has been the least of the team's worries.

Kay has very quietly settled into his role and produced on a regular basis for the White Sox. He's done a better job of being efficient, getting deeper into games, and, most importantly, giving the White Sox a chance to win every time he takes the mound.

Over his last 11 starts, Kay has a 3.16 ERA. He has pitched past the sixth inning in three of his last four outings and has not allowed more than three earned runs in a start since June 17.

As I said, it's been quiet production from the 31-year-old left-hander, but he's turned in a 9-6 record with 127.1 innings and a 3.96 ERA. That's a really quality piece of the starting rotation, and a ridiculous bargain on the two-year, $12 million contract he signed with the White Sox last offseason.

I'd even go as far as to confidently say that I'd give the ball to Anthony Kay in Game 2 of a playoff series if I were the White Sox right now.

We know the formula for this team is not going to be to win with dominant starting pitching. That hasn't been their identity all season, and that's not going to change as they roll toward a potential postseason berth. The White Sox go as the offense goes. But the primary need for a potential playoff series is a set of starting pitchers who are able to keep the White Sox in the game and give their bats and bullpen some support.

Let's call it Game 2 of the ALDS against the Houston Astros. You're not calling upon Anthony Kay with the expectation that he'll give you seven scoreless innings. But can he give you five innings of two-run baseball? Can he get you into the late innings and allow you to turn things over to the bullpen with the lead? Can he give your offense a chance to pull away? Without a doubt. He's proved it over the last two months.

Kay did 6.1 scoreless innings against the 76-51 Tampa Bay Rays, who hold the best record in the American League. He went 5.1 innings with three earned runs against the New York Yankees, and 5.1 innings with two earned runs against the Boston Red Sox.

During a stretch of games in which the White Sox have played a handful of playoff teams, Kay has regularly given them a shot, and that's what the White Sox are paying him to do.

To put things into perspective, there are only 43 pitchers in Major League Baseball this season with at least 125 innings pitched and an ERA below 4.00. Anthony Kay is one of them, as is teammate Sean Burke. So if you're looking for reliability and quality innings in the postseason, you could certainly do worse than have Kay as your Game 2 starter.

His stuff has become increasingly effective as the season has gone on, developing swings out of the strike zone with a chase rate that now puts him in the 73rd percentile of MLB pitchers. He gets ground balls, and after a rocky first month of the season, has really cut down on his walks. Kay has issued just 31 walks over his last 20 starts and 102.1 innings dating back to the start of May. That's a healthy number and is a big reason why he's dropped his season ERA from 6.12 down to its current mark of 3.96.

At this point, I feel confident in saying that Anthony Kay will and should be a member of the White Sox starting rotation in 2027 and, in my opinion, he's earned himself enough respect to be their second option in a playoff series. He deserves his flowers for what's been a quietly productive four months of baseball, helping stabilize an otherwise volatile White Sox starting rotation.