We are just a few days away from the Chicago White Sox beginning their 2026 season. The White Sox will open the regular season with a road series against the Milwaukee Brewers. 

It was no doubt an interesting offseason for the White Sox, who were a bit more active in free agency than in years prior. That led the team to sign both Munetaka Murakami and Seranthony Domínguez to multi-year deals. 

The addition of Murakami improves the White Sox’s overall lineup, while the signing of Dominguez gives the team an established veteran at the back of its bullpen. Those two players will join a young White Sox team that showed improvement in 2025. 

But how do the rotation, bullpen, and lineup stack up entering the season? Let’s break down and grade each group ahead of the 2026 campaign.

The weakest part of this White Sox team heading into the season is the rotation. There are just a lot of question marks and uncertainties surrounding this group, and this could shape up to be Chicago’s weakness throughout 2026. 

The White Sox are rolling with Shane Smith, Anthony Kay, Davis Martin, Erick Fedde, and Sean Burke as their five-man rotation to begin the year. While Smith has the potential to post even better numbers in his second season, Chicago is going to need Kay, Martin, Fedde, and Burke to pull their weight in the rotation.

Kay pitched well in the Japan League, but he had a 6.14 ERA in his last season in the Majors (2023). Martin and Burke both finished with ERAs above 4.05 in 2025, and Fedde spent time with three teams last year while posting a 5.49 ERA. 

Grade: C-

The White Sox have some nice pieces in their bullpen. Dominguez brings some experience to this Chicago bullpen and is expected to be the team’s closer to start the 2026 campaign. 

Grant Taylor is a hard-throwing right-hander who could blossom into an elite option in his first full season in the Majors. Jordan Hicks could be a valuable piece in the bullpen, and Jordan Leasure is coming off a solid breakthrough campaign in 2025. 

This bullpen has a lot of potential with plenty of emerging arms. However, losing Mike Vasil for the season lowers the overall grade slightly. 

Grade: C

Adding the power of Murakami to this White Sox team makes this a much more balanced lineup. The Japanese slugger hit 246 home runs across his eight years in Japan, and in five of those seasons, he hit above 30 home runs. 

The White Sox have a nice mix of some veterans and youngsters throughout their lineup. Murakami, Colson Montgomery, and Miguel Vargas are talented young hitters, and Austin Hays and Andrew Benintendi are established veterans who can post solid numbers. 

This lineup is the White Sox's strong suit entering the season. Both Montgomery and Murakami could hit 30 home runs, and Hays was a sneaky pickup for the South Siders in the offseason. 

Grade: B-