2 breakout starting pitchers are quickly becoming elite prospects for the White Sox

The second half of the 2025 season is well underway, and the Chicago White Sox have eyes on the farm as they look to establish their future core.

This week, MLB Pipeline released an updated list of the top 30 prospects for every MLB team, and although the recent draftees are not yet on the list, the new rankings provide insight about the development of key players in the organization in 2025.

Two breakout starting pitchers, left-hander Christian Oppor and right-hander Tanner McDougal, are among the most notable risers for the White Sox.

LHP Christian Oppor (White Sox No. 7 prospect) 

21-year-old Christian Oppor ranked 15th in the previous update, and he has now catapulted himself well into the top 10 prospects in the organization, coming in at No. 6 this time around.

The White Sox liked Oppor so much that they drafted him twice. After failing to sign him as an 11th round pick in 2022, they took him again in the fifth-round of the 2023 MLB Draft.

With a fastball, slider, and changeup all looking like above-average pitches, the focus for Oppor has been on his command in the lower levels of the minor leagues.

After sticking to Arizona in 2023 and 2024, Oppor made his affiliate debut in 2025, posting a 2.42 ERA in five starts with Low-A Kannapolis before an early promotion to the High-A level.

Since joining Winston-Salem, Oppor has pitched to a 4.38 ERA in 10 starts, with an impressive 47 strikeouts in 37 innings. He has struck out 10 hitters in two of his last four outings, and his stuff seems to be well advanced for the High-A level.

Oppor has already exceeded his career-high in innings, so the White Sox will likely be careful with him down the stretch, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility to think he could be given a taste of Double-A Birmingham before the end of the season.

It will most likely be a year or two before Oppor is in the mix for a big league call-up, but he’s shown that he has the stuff to be an impact starter for the White Sox, and the latest rankings indicate that many are starting to notice. 

RHP Tanner McDougal (White Sox No. 8 prospect) 

Another fifth-round pick by the White Sox, 22 year-old Tanner McDougal is a prime example of how development isn’t linear.

The White Sox loved McDougal’s spin rates and stuff in the 2021 MLB Draft, but he went down with Tommy John surgery not long after he was drafted, missing the entire 2022 season.

He showed promise in his 2023 return to Kannapolis, but posted a miserable 6.85 ERA after a promotion to Winston-Salem in 2024. 44 walks in 65 innings were a big part of the problem for McDougal, who has some of the best stuff in the White Sox organization, but had big trouble with command and location.

McDougal showed up ready to prove the haters wrong in 2025. Despite a still-too-high walk rate, a 3.28 ERA in 13 starts in Winston-Salem was enough to convince the White Sox to give McDougal a chance at a higher level.

Since his promotion to Birmingham, McDougal has taken his game to another level, with a miniscule 1.93 ERA in seven starts. The key though, is 40 strikeouts and just 10 walks.

Chris Getz has taken notice of McDougal’s big bounceback season, even mentioning him as a possibility for Major League innings down the stretch in 2025.

Tanner has gone from the 27th ranked prospect, all the way up to No. 7 in the latest update.

McDougal has shown in 2025 why the White Sox thought so highly of him a few years ago, and he’s quickly becoming one of the most exciting arms in the Sox system. 

The White Sox farm system took some hits early this season, and with the number of injuries they had, we knew someone would have to step up. Christian Oppor and Tanner McDougal have answered the call in 2025, and have certainly put themselves in position to be a big part of the next competitive White Sox team.