With Opening Day approaching, elbow inflammation could put Brooks Baldwin’s roster status in jeopardy and open the door for other White Sox outfielders.
Earlier this week, the Chicago White Sox lost catcher Kyle Teel to a hamstring strain that will sideline him for four to six weeks, and possibly for the first month of the 2026 regular season.
Now it appears outfielder Brooks Baldwin may also have his status in question as he deals with arm soreness with Opening Day just two weeks away.
Baldwin’s last appearance in a White Sox spring training lineup came on Friday, March 6, when Chicago defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks. Since then, things have been quiet publicly, but behind the scenes Baldwin has been dealing with soreness in his throwing arm.
“He’s got some elbow soreness, throwing to some bases the other day. There’s some elbow soreness. Kind of day-to-day right now, will be evaluated,” White Sox manager Will Venable said on Wednesday.
Chicago initially held Baldwin out for precautionary reasons, but imaging done by the team on Thursday showed inflammation in the right elbow area.
The root cause and severity remain unclear, but with just two weeks remaining until Opening Day—and with a tight battle for roster spots in the White Sox outfield—it seems like a very real possibility Baldwin could begin the season on the injured list. That scenario would open the door for players like Derek Hill or Jarred Kelenic to crack the Opening Day roster.
Baldwin is still a big part of what the White Sox are building, especially if he can build on what he did in the second half of the 2025 season.
From July 3 through the end of the regular season, Baldwin appeared in 54 games for Chicago, hitting nine (9) doubles and eight (8) home runs while posting an .804 OPS. That late-season surge lifted his overall OPS to .697, much closer to league-average production and an encouraging sign for a still-25-year-old player who brings significant defensive versatility.
The 2026 season could be something of a make-or-break year for Baldwin—not in the sense that it determines the fate of his career, but in terms of his place within the White Sox’s long-term plans. As Chicago moves closer to contention and more young talent arrives at the major league level, Baldwin will need to prove he belongs as a regular and as part of the team’s core.
He got off to a strong start in spring training, but now risks losing some of that momentum as he works his way back from this injury.
Depending on how long the elbow issue lingers, it could also impact Chicago’s outfield rotation once the regular season begins. Even if Baldwin only misses a brief stint on the injured list, players like Everson Pereira and Kelenic are in similar positions, trying to earn consistent at-bats.
And my read on the White Sox situation heading into 2026 is that playing time will be merit-based and earned on the field.