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If the Chicago White Sox are going to hold serve as the top team in the AL Central during the second half of the 2026 season, they'll need their starting pitching to step up in a big way.
It remains the biggest weakness on the roster, and it's undoubtedly an area where the White Sox will look to add at the MLB trade deadline. But there are still almost three weeks between now and the deadline, and the White Sox can't afford to take their foot off the gas.
As the team heads on a road trip to Toronto and Texas out of the All-Star break, they'll need some of their rested starting pitchers to put their best foot forward.
The White Sox recently announced how they plan to roll out their rotation, and they're putting their best foot forward in Toronto.
On Friday night, Anthony Kay will take the mound for the White Sox.
Kay has a 4.23 ERA on the season, but he has posted a 2.84 ERA over 19 innings in his last four starts. One of those outings came against the Cleveland Guardians, when he was removed after four innings due to a rain delay but appeared to be cruising on the road. Kay hasn't received much run support over his last few outings, but his job in Toronto will once again be to get deep into the ballgame and keep the White Sox in it.
On Saturday, the White Sox will go with Sean Burke. He's been their best pitcher and one of the better pitchers in baseball over the last month. The White Sox are 5-0 over his last five starts. Burke has pitched 32 innings and allowed only six earned runs, posting a 1.69 ERA with 42 strikeouts during that stretch. He has now lowered his season ERA to 3.41 and has been dominant, not just because opponents have scored two runs or fewer in each of his last five starts, but also because he's gotten deep into ballgames. That has helped preserve a bullpen that was tiring before the All-Star break.
In the series finale against the Blue Jays, the White Sox are going with Davis Martin, a near AL All-Star who needed the break more than anybody. Martin had a 2.41 ERA over his first 13 starts of the season, but he has raised his ERA by a full run after posting a 6.95 ERA since June 16. Hopefully, the extra rest provided by the All-Star break allows Martin to reset and rediscover himself because the White Sox will need a version of Davis Martin that's closer to what they saw early in 2026 than what they've had for the last month.
Erick Fedde and Noah Schultz will be the starting pitchers for the first two games of the Texas Rangers series before the rotation resets. Those are two pitchers who appear to be pitching for their spots in the rotation right now. Fedde has actually lowered his season ERA to 4.15.
Since the start of June, he has a 2.27 ERA and a 5-1 record, while the White Sox are 6-2 in his outings. The issue hasn't been how effective he's been, but rather how little he's pitched. Fedde has pitched more than five innings just once since the beginning of May, and even that outing lasted only 5.1 innings against the Guardians on July 5.
A big reason the White Sox bullpen has been so taxed is that Fedde has needed one or multiple openers before his starts and still hasn't been trusted to get through the lineup a third time. I suppose beggars can't be choosers, and given Chicago's current need for pitching, they'll take what they've gotten from Fedde over the last two months. But he'll need to remain this effective if he wants to avoid becoming a liability.
For Noah Schultz, it all comes back to the walks and his command. We've seen that he can be effective at the big league level, as he was in his most recent start against the Athletics, when he pitched five innings of one-run baseball with zero walks and four strikeouts. But he needs to get ahead of hitters and trust his stuff more. Schultz got off to a great start in his career, but he now has a 5.60 ERA on the season. He'll need to repeat his most recent performance for the White Sox to gain more trust in him as a member of their starting rotation.
I have little doubt about Schultz long term. But with the White Sox in a playoff race and looking to upgrade their starting rotation, there could be somebody on the outside looking in. That makes his next few outings critical.
A couple of trips through the rotation should get the White Sox closer to the MLB trade deadline while remaining in contention. Things in the American League remain volatile enough that a rough stretch could kill any team's chances, but the White Sox currently sit at 50-45 and should be on the hunt to add talent.
Hopefully, the way Chicago is deploying its rotation, combined with the added rest provided by the All-Star break, gives the team the push it needs to stay out front in the AL Central race.
Continue reading...
It remains the biggest weakness on the roster, and it's undoubtedly an area where the White Sox will look to add at the MLB trade deadline. But there are still almost three weeks between now and the deadline, and the White Sox can't afford to take their foot off the gas.
As the team heads on a road trip to Toronto and Texas out of the All-Star break, they'll need some of their rested starting pitchers to put their best foot forward.
The White Sox recently announced how they plan to roll out their rotation, and they're putting their best foot forward in Toronto.
On Friday night, Anthony Kay will take the mound for the White Sox.
Kay has a 4.23 ERA on the season, but he has posted a 2.84 ERA over 19 innings in his last four starts. One of those outings came against the Cleveland Guardians, when he was removed after four innings due to a rain delay but appeared to be cruising on the road. Kay hasn't received much run support over his last few outings, but his job in Toronto will once again be to get deep into the ballgame and keep the White Sox in it.
On Saturday, the White Sox will go with Sean Burke. He's been their best pitcher and one of the better pitchers in baseball over the last month. The White Sox are 5-0 over his last five starts. Burke has pitched 32 innings and allowed only six earned runs, posting a 1.69 ERA with 42 strikeouts during that stretch. He has now lowered his season ERA to 3.41 and has been dominant, not just because opponents have scored two runs or fewer in each of his last five starts, but also because he's gotten deep into ballgames. That has helped preserve a bullpen that was tiring before the All-Star break.
In the series finale against the Blue Jays, the White Sox are going with Davis Martin, a near AL All-Star who needed the break more than anybody. Martin had a 2.41 ERA over his first 13 starts of the season, but he has raised his ERA by a full run after posting a 6.95 ERA since June 16. Hopefully, the extra rest provided by the All-Star break allows Martin to reset and rediscover himself because the White Sox will need a version of Davis Martin that's closer to what they saw early in 2026 than what they've had for the last month.
Erick Fedde and Noah Schultz will be the starting pitchers for the first two games of the Texas Rangers series before the rotation resets. Those are two pitchers who appear to be pitching for their spots in the rotation right now. Fedde has actually lowered his season ERA to 4.15.
Since the start of June, he has a 2.27 ERA and a 5-1 record, while the White Sox are 6-2 in his outings. The issue hasn't been how effective he's been, but rather how little he's pitched. Fedde has pitched more than five innings just once since the beginning of May, and even that outing lasted only 5.1 innings against the Guardians on July 5.
A big reason the White Sox bullpen has been so taxed is that Fedde has needed one or multiple openers before his starts and still hasn't been trusted to get through the lineup a third time. I suppose beggars can't be choosers, and given Chicago's current need for pitching, they'll take what they've gotten from Fedde over the last two months. But he'll need to remain this effective if he wants to avoid becoming a liability.
For Noah Schultz, it all comes back to the walks and his command. We've seen that he can be effective at the big league level, as he was in his most recent start against the Athletics, when he pitched five innings of one-run baseball with zero walks and four strikeouts. But he needs to get ahead of hitters and trust his stuff more. Schultz got off to a great start in his career, but he now has a 5.60 ERA on the season. He'll need to repeat his most recent performance for the White Sox to gain more trust in him as a member of their starting rotation.
I have little doubt about Schultz long term. But with the White Sox in a playoff race and looking to upgrade their starting rotation, there could be somebody on the outside looking in. That makes his next few outings critical.
A couple of trips through the rotation should get the White Sox closer to the MLB trade deadline while remaining in contention. Things in the American League remain volatile enough that a rough stretch could kill any team's chances, but the White Sox currently sit at 50-45 and should be on the hunt to add talent.
Hopefully, the way Chicago is deploying its rotation, combined with the added rest provided by the All-Star break, gives the team the push it needs to stay out front in the AL Central race.
Continue reading...
