The Chicago White Sox enter spring training with a great group of players who should all be key contributors to helping the White Sox rebuild.
The White Sox have one of the more exciting camps to follow, with the White Sox having so many young prospects looking to make the roster. There will be plenty of competition, with the White Sox having openings at three infield spots and in right field.
The White Sox also enter camp with a bountiful group of starting pitchers, giving the White Sox a ton of depth at the position.
The Chicago White Sox have a lot of depth
The White Sox enter camp with plenty of starting pitching depth. The new White Sox manager, Will Venable, has a good mix of veterans and potential rookies to choose from, and three guys who could be the Opening Day starter for the White Sox.
Entering camp the White Sox will have 18 starting pitchers in camp. Of those 18, 11 are on the 40-man roster, and 7 are nonroster invitees. The two biggest names to follow from the nonroster invitees are the White Sox’s top left-handed pitchers Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith. Both Smith and Schultz have chances of making the team if they can perform this spring.
Potential options for the White Sox three, four, and five spots in the rotation are Drew Thorpe, Jairo Iriarte, Sean Burke, and Bryse Wilson. Iriarte is the most interesting of the bunch making the jump from Double-A to the majors last season.
Jairo Iriarte throwing heat. Some good early buzz about him in camp. He’s competing for a starting spot in the rotation. pic.twitter.com/l15kEMGpmM
— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) February 15, 2025
Iriarte was impressive with the White Sox Double-A affiliate, making 22 starts and had a 5-7 record and a 3.71 ERA in 126.0 innings. The 23-year-old did make his Major League debut with the White Sox last season, where Iriarte made six relief appearances and had a 4.50 ERA.
Potential Opening Day starters
Topping the list to be the White Sox starter for Opening Day are Jonathan Cannon, Martín Pérez, and Davis Martin. All three pitchers have a good chance of being the guy, depending on how well they do during camp. Pèrez has the best chance, given he’s the veteran on a young White Sox pitching staff. However, Cannon had a great season last year, given the overall struggles the White Sox had.
In his first season, Cannon made 21 starts, accumulating a 5-10 record with a 4.49 ERA, and striking out 91 batters in 124.1 innings pitched. Pérez between the Pittsburg Pirates and San Diego Padres, had the same season as Cannon, making 26 starts tallying a 5-6 record and a 4.53 ERA in 135.0 innings.
Martin enters this season two years removed from, having Tommy John surgery, which caused him to miss the 2023 season. Last season Martin made 10 starts, tallied a 0-5 record and a 4.32 ERA in 50.0 innings pitched. MLB.com Scott Merkin caught up with Martin and asked him what he thought of being one of the pitchers in the mix for the job.
“I said, ‘You better bring it,’” said Martin with a broad smile. “I want it. I know he wants it. And I know Martín wants it. You are not a competitor if you don’t want to be the No. 1 guy and the responsibilities that come with that.
“You see the responsibilities Garrett [Crochet] held, that [Dylan] Cease held. You need to be the guy who goes out there and executes 33 starts on the year and the whole team looks to you to be successful. This is the guaranteed one day we are going to have a really good shot of winning. So, you dream about that opportunity, to cherish that role.”
Plenty of options
The White Sox are proving the adage true, that you can never have enough starting pitching.
New manager Will Venable won’t have a hard time filling in gaps whenever an injury occurs, with having so many guys to choose from.
Hopefully too sooner rather than later the White Sox will call up Schultz and Smith given they’re both so close to being ready to debut.
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