If Anthony Kay continues to struggle, right-hander David Sandlin is emerging as a strong candidate to join the White Sox rotation after a dominant return from injury in Triple-A Charlotte.
The Chicago White Sox are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now, having won five in a row and bringing their record to 16-17 on the season. That leaves them just 1.5 games back of first place in the AL Central and tied for the final wild card spot in the American League.
Now, obviously, it’s a bit early to be watching the standings, but for White Sox fans, a competitive start to the 2026 season has been completely refreshing. And one of the more surprising aspects of this team’s early success has been the starting pitching. Things looked pretty rough early on, and when Shane Smith struggled and got demoted to Triple-A Charlotte, it felt like the White Sox were going to be in for a long year from a pitching standpoint.
But right now, four White Sox starting pitchers, Davis Martin, Sean Burke, Eric Fedde, and Noah Schultz, are putting together excellent seasons in 2026. In their 23 combined appearances, they have thrown 131.1 innings with a 2.60 ERA and an 8-7 record.
The only starting pitcher who hasn’t looked the part is lefty Anthony Kay, who has a 6.12 ERA on the season and has allowed 12 earned runs over his last two starts combined.
Kay will take the ball for the White Sox on Sunday afternoon against the San Diego Padres as Chicago looks for a second consecutive series sweep. But he does so with time running out and another rotation candidate nipping at his heels. If Kay doesn’t course-correct soon, right-handed pitcher David Sandlin looks to be the next man up for a rotation opportunity in Chicago.
Sandlin was acquired by the White Sox in an offseason trade with the Boston Red Sox. Chicago took on the salary of Jordan Hicks for the next two seasons specifically to upgrade its pitching prospect return, moving from Gage Ziehl to the hard-throwing Sandlin, a 25-year-old who looks primed to make his MLB debut in 2026.
When the White Sox first traded for Sandlin, GM Chris Getz spoke about him as a player who could help the starting rotation in some capacity this season. There was even an outside chance that Sandlin would make the Opening Day roster before injuries prevented him from taking the mound in spring training.
The White Sox took a more precautionary approach with his return, placing him on the injured list to begin the season before sending him on a rehab stint to Winston-Salem on April 21. This weekend, Sandlin returned to Triple-A Charlotte and continued to dominate. He threw four scoreless innings, allowing just two hits with zero walks and four strikeouts.
In his three outings combined this season, he has thrown 8.1 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts, though the walks were an early concern during his rehab stint.
Sandlin has the ability to run his fastball up to 101 mph on his best nights. On Saturday in Charlotte, he was sitting at 97 and occasionally touching the upper 90s with sharp breaking stuff, but more importantly, solid command.
As the White Sox have seen with someone like Noah Schultz this season, attacking the strike zone can be far more important than a few extra ticks of velocity on the fastball. And when Sandlin is letting his stuff do the work, he’s nearly unhittable.
The runway is wide open for David Sandlin at this point. Tanner McDougal was the pitching prospect next in line to get an MLB promotion, but he is now on the injured list with a flexor strain and will be shut down from throwing for a few weeks. There is a real possibility he misses a significant chunk of time, which takes another MLB-ready arm out of the equation for the White Sox if they look to replace Kay in the starting rotation. That opens the door for Sandlin, who is already more stretched out than someone like Hagen Smith.
Sandlin threw 106 innings in the minor leagues last season, and he wasn’t even a full-time starter, making only 14 starts.
Completing four full innings, like Sandlin did on Saturday, is something Hagen Smith has failed to do in four of his six outings so far. There is still a ton of special upside with Smith, and he has been very effective with a 2.33 ERA and a 13.5 K/9 this season. But in terms of an immediate replacement with upside who could take Anthony Kay’s spot at some point in May, David Sandlin is your guy.
We’ll see how Kay fares against the Padres on Sunday, but it’s hard to imagine he has much leash left. As the White Sox turn a corner and start playing more competitive baseball, they need a starting rotation that’s up for the task.
