A deep pool of young starting pitchers gives the Chicago White Sox just the right amount of arms to open the 2026 season.
Who knows if the Chicago White Sox and general manager Chris Getz are truly done adding to the roster for the 2026 season.
My initial understanding, after the White Sox swung a trade with the Boston Red Sox for right-handers Jordan Hicks and David Sandlin, was that it would likely be the club’s final significant move of the offseason. But there’s still a clear need for a veteran starting pitcher, and recent comments from MLB insiders — including Robert Murray — suggest there may still be more to come.
If that’s the case, the clock is certainly ticking.
But let’s pause for a moment and assume the White Sox are finished. Let’s assume the plan is to head into spring training with a stiff competition for the final two rotation spots — a mix of young starters looking to break through at the MLB level, along with a few reworked relievers hoping to carve out new roles.
The White Sox may not want to block their young arms from opportunity. And if they were to sign a veteran starter to a lucrative or multi-year deal, it would almost certainly take innings away from a potential breakout candidate. Whether that’s the right approach or not is up for debate — but it’s clearly part of the equation.
And even if that ends up being the reality, the current mix of White Sox starting pitching options is actually well-suited to fill out the major-league rotation and staff the upper levels of the minor leagues.
Let’s take a look at who’s in the conversation.
Shane Smith, Davis Martin, and Anthony Kay appear to be the three locks to open the season in the MLB rotation. You could argue whether Sean Burke has a fourth spot effectively locked down. While I do think he has a leg up on the rest of the competition, I’m not quite ready to put him in that category just yet.
So who’s battling for those final two rotation spots?
On the 40-man roster, you’ve got names like Burke, Jonathan Cannon, Tanner McDougal, David Sandlin, and Duncan Davitt. That’s a sizable group on its own.
Then there are the relievers the White Sox are experimenting with as starters — Sean Newcomb and Mike Vasil. Both are being given a chance to stretch out, though either could ultimately settle into the big-league bullpen if the transition doesn’t stick.
And finally, there’s the prospect layer of it all.
Top left-handers Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith are both closer to an MLB debut than many might realize. Add in Shane Murphy — not a Top 100 prospect, but still one of the most dominant starting pitchers in all of minor league baseball last season — and the picture becomes even clearer. Murphy posted a 1.66 ERA and reached as high as Triple-A, making him very much part of the near-term conversation.
Just like that — between the locks, the 40-man starters, the converted relievers, and the high-end prospects — the White Sox have roughly 13 legitimate starting pitching options in the organization.
Could they afford to add one more? Absolutely. But as things currently stand, the mix already feels pretty close to ideal.
For example, let’s say both Newcomb and Vasil ultimately revert back to relief roles at the big-league level. Now imagine an MLB rotation of Shane Smith, Davis Martin, Anthony Kay, Sean Burke, and Tanner McDougal.
That alignment would leave a Triple-A Charlotte rotation featuring Duncan Davitt, David Sandlin, Noah Schultz, Jonathan Cannon, and Shane Murphy — a scenario that feels both realistic and intriguing.
Hagen Smith, who has less professional experience and has yet to pitch at the Triple-A level, would likely begin the year in Birmingham. Joined by several other promising arms already on the Barons’ roster, that group would form another highly competitive and development-focused rotation.
When you bring this many starting pitching options into the organization, the challenge becomes avoiding overcrowded rosters and stalled development paths. But right now, it appears the White Sox have walked that tightrope well — assembling a deep, competitive spring training group while also maintaining a clean and logical organizational hierarchy heading into Opening Day.