Why 2 Injuries Could Be Good News for White Sox in 2027

When two of the starting pitchers you're relying on are significantly impacted by injuries late in the season, it's almost never good news for the team. That was the case for the Chicago White Sox in 2026.

Davis Martin had been the ace of the pitching staff for the first few months of the year. He ran into some regression during the summer months but ultimately bounced back to be a productive arm for the White Sox over the final few months of the regular season.

Chicago then revealed that Martin had been pitching through a right calf injury, an ailment that ultimately affected his performance down the stretch and into the postseason. It limited Martin to just one relief appearance during the playoffs and left Sean Burke as the only reliable starting pitcher the White Sox had.

There's a laundry list of issues with Luis Castillo's performance after being acquired by the White Sox at the trade deadline. Castillo had an 8.42 ERA over 31 innings pitched.

He was placed on the injured list toward the end of the regular season with a right shoulder impingement and was left off the postseason roster entirely. At the time, it seemed like a phantom IL stint, a convenient excuse for the White Sox to get Castillo off the roster and cut their losses. But during his end-of-season press conference, GM Chris Getz was adamant that the injury was legitimate.

Getz felt the shoulder issue affected Castillo's performance, and had the White Sox advanced deeper into the postseason than the ALDS, Castillo would have been an option later in October.

Chicago's GM expressed similar sentiments about Martin.

“Davis has been dealing with a leg issue for some time that, yeah, it did affect him," Getz said. "I appreciate just his pursuit to go out there and try to give us productive innings, but I think it was very clear that he was hindered and wasn't himself."

The White Sox are hopeful that both Davis Martin and Luis Castillo will have clean bills of health for the start of the 2027 season. So it may just be possible that these injuries end up being a good thing for the White Sox moving forward, or at least a promising sign of what's to come.

This winter, the White Sox will have the difficult task of building a World Series-caliber starting rotation essentially from scratch, with nobody other than Sean Burke giving the team much confidence. Between the young pitching depth throughout the organization, an offseason of free agent acquisitions and trades, and pitchers like Davis Martin and Luis Castillo bouncing back healthy, the White Sox may yet have a chance to put together a strong rotation.

Some fans may want the organization to move on from Castillo altogether. His salary makes that nearly impossible and unrealistic. I do believe there's a good chance the White Sox move Castillo to a bullpen role rather than banking on him to be a productive starter.

Either way, though, if Getz is right and the injuries contributed to Castillo's struggles, he and Davis Martin should both be capable of contributing to the 2027 team.