White Sox September Callups Will Look Different Than Usual

In one week, when the calendar turns to September, Major League Baseball rosters will expand, allowing each team to carry 28 players on its active roster.

It's an opportunity for teams to bring in additional help and add a wave of talent for the final stretch of the season.

For the Chicago White Sox, September roster expansion is going to look a lot different in 2026 than it has in the past.

Over each of the past three seasons, as the White Sox have lost more than 100 games, they've used September callups as an opportunity to develop young talent and roll the dice on players with upside.

In 2025, the White Sox gave former top prospect Bryan Ramos another brief opportunity in the big leagues. In 2024, September callups allowed Sean Burke and Jairo Iriarte to make their MLB debuts.

In 2023, the White Sox used the extra roster spots to take a chance on pitching acquisitions such as Luis Patiño.

When you have a losing team, that's the correct approach with those extra roster spots. Take a swing on players who might provide future value and benefit from the development opportunity. But with the 2026 team, the White Sox will be focused on winning the AL Central and using their September callups to add talent that can help them win as many games as possible the rest of the way.

So what might the White Sox do with their extra roster spots once September callups arrive?

The obvious decision would be for Chicago to add two pitchers who can provide additional innings and help stabilize the bullpen. That has been the primary story and concern surrounding this team for weeks. The White Sox have only three traditional starting pitchers on the roster, and even Luis Castillo hasn't been able to pitch deep into games.

Instead, his short outings have forced the White Sox to burn through their bullpen when he's on the mound.

Recent success from pitchers such as Erick Fedde and José Urquidy has helped the White Sox stay afloat. But it would make a ton of sense for Chicago to add at least one more bullpen arm and perhaps even another starting pitcher to the mix, giving Will Venable more innings to work with.

I feel like a bit of a broken record advocating for Drew Thorpe to rejoin the White Sox, but it would definitely be a wise move for Chicago. Thorpe has been on a rehab assignment while recovering from Tommy John surgery and has allowed three earned runs over 10 innings, with 12 strikeouts, across his last two outings with Triple A Charlotte.

Thorpe threw 83 pitches in his most recent start and looks ready to take over a rotation spot in the big leagues.

Moving Fedde or Urquidy back into a traditional relief role, where either pitcher could provide multiple innings out of the bullpen, and giving Thorpe a permanent place in the starting rotation for the final month of the season would be a strong way to utilize the September roster expansion.

David Sandlin is another option for that starting rotation spot. Notably, Sandlin is already on the 40-man roster, whereas Thorpe is currently on the 60-day injured list. Promoting Sandlin to Chicago would not create the need for a corresponding roster move.

The other spot could also go to a relief pitcher who is already on the 40-man roster, such as Tyler Davis, who posted a 4.10 ERA over 26.1 innings at the big league level earlier this year.

I certainly wouldn't be opposed to the White Sox giving an opportunity to a reliever outside the current 40-man who has performed well with Triple A Charlotte. But from a practical standpoint, I don't imagine the White Sox are looking to overhaul things with DFAs at the end of the month.

Unlike in the past, though, the White Sox shouldn't use September callups primarily as a development opportunity. It needs to be different this time around to match the circumstances. They should view this as a chance to supplement the MLB roster with more talent and give the team a final push toward the playoffs. That probably means adding innings and relief depth.