3 forgotten White Sox players who will return from injury in 2026

The 2025 White Sox have seen the emergence of a young core that the team hopes to carry with them into 2026 and beyond.

The ugliness of the record-breaking 2024 season feels far behind us, and Sox fans have been given new reason for excitement.

As the White Sox will look to free agency and the trade market to bolster the core and add more talent to the club, they’ll be getting some extra reinforcements in the form of players returning from injury.

Here are a few players who you may have forgotten about that will return to the White Sox from injury in 2026. 

RHP Drew Thorpe

The centerpiece of the deal that sent Dylan Cease to the Padres, Drew Thorpe completely dominated the Double-A level before his big league promotion in 2024.

In the big leagues, it was a bit of a mixed bag for Thorpe. He made nine starts for the White Sox in 2024, six of which were terrific, but he had three blow-up outings that inflated his overall season ERA.

Thorpe was 3-3 with a 5.48 ERA, but he had a stretch of five consecutive starts where he completed 30.1 innings with a 1.48 ERA and allowed only 13 hits. That one month stretch (from June 22-July 21), included scoreless outings against playoff teams like the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals.

The potential was clearly there, but a flexor strain ended Thorpe's season in early August and things didn’t go as planned entering 2025. Thorpe got his Spring Training off to a late start due to a surgery to remove a bone spur in his elbow, and shortly after his return, he was shut down again due to elbow soreness.

Thorpe had Tommy John surgery in March and was ruled out for the entire 2025 season. Most Tommy John surgeries take 12-18 months to recover from, and since his surgery happened so close to the season, it is also unlikely that Thorpe will be ready for the beginning of 2026.

Sox fans can still expect Drew Thorpe back at some point next year in what will be his age 25 season. It will be a welcome return. The former top 100 prospect will be an important addition to Chicago's pitching staff as they look to take the next step towards contention.

LHP Ky Bush 

Another promising young starting pitcher lost before the season began was Ky Bush. 2025 felt like a big year for Bush, who made his big league debut in August of 2024.

Bush struggled with his control in his first taste of the big leagues, walking 16 hitters in 17.1 innings and averaging four walks per start. He was 0-3 with a 5.60 ERA, despite opposing hitters having a 3.4 percent barrel rate against him (an elite number for a pitcher).

2025 was a great opportunity for Bush to get an extended look at the big league level and try to turn things around, especially with a shortage of left-handed starters on the White Sox roster. Unfortunately, Bush’s season ended before it even began.

The White Sox announced in February that Bush would undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire 2025 season.

While he is a full month ahead of Thorpe in his recovery, Bush also likely won’t be ready for Opening Day 2026. He too will be a rotation factor once he is. The former second-round pick of the Angels will look to come back healthy with improved control and prove that he belongs at the MLB level. 

RHP Prelander Berroa 

The White Sox acquired Prelander Berroa in the trade that sent Gregory Santos to Seattle prior to the 2024 season. White Sox fans once wondered if Berroa could be a future closer in the Major Leagues.

The White Sox optioned Berroa to Triple-A Charlotte before 2024, where he struggled to begin the season. By the end of the year, Berroa got it together and earned himself a big league promotion in August.

Berroa pitched in 17 games out of the bullpen down the stretch, striking out 26 hitters in 19 innings and showing why the White Sox thought so highly of him. Berroa was 1-0 with a 3.32 ERA and elite metrics in every category.

According to Baseball Savant, his expected ERA was 2.24, the expected batting average against was a measly .132. He was also in the top percentiles in whiffs, average exit velocity, hard hit percentage, barrel rate, and strikeout rate.

Those peripherals suggest Berroa has what it takes to be an elite high-leverage relief arm.

Berroa entered 2025 with a chance at the closer role in Chicago, but he didn’t make it through Spring Training without going down with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. Berroa will be on a similar timeline to both Bush and Thorpe, and the White Sox will expect him back midseason 2026, though the timeline for a reliever may be slightly shorter than for a starter.

When Berroa does return, he may get a crack at a closer role that’s currently wide open, and the White Sox are hopeful that he can be an important member of the bullpen for a long time. 

The exact timeline for the return of Bush, Thorpe, and Berroa is unknown, but they’ll be on the radar of the White Sox front office in 2026. It’ll be interesting to see the kind of moves the White Sox make this offseason as they look to improve their team, but the returns of several players from injury will make sure that not all the additions are external.