Sometimes a prospect advances enough to play in the major leagues, but not enough to stick on a roster. They end up stashed in Triple-A and called in for occasional games. That's where the "Quad-A" moniker comes from, and it describes a lot of ballplayers. But in Jonathan Cannon's case, he had a bigger rise to success, and a quicker drop down the White Sox depth charts than the vast majority of players who ride the bus back-and-forth from Triple-A.
In some ways, Cannon's major league career says more about the White Sox than it does about him. His first major league season was 2024, when he got called up in April, and went on to make 21 starts over 124.1 innings. He was considered the team's best starter after Garrett Crochet and Erick Fedde. In 2025, he made 22 starts over 103.2 innings, and was optioned to Triple-A for a "reset" on August 8th. He's only appeared in four major league games since then, and never as a starter.
But that doesn't tell the whole story. He pitched to a 4.49 ERA in 2024, and a 5.82 ERA in 2025. There's definitely a substantial difference there, but it's not the difference between an ace and a Quad-A stall. In 2024, the White Sox had a historically bad season where any semi-competent player was an advantage. But they improved substantially in 2025 , and poor performers got harder to tolerate as the season went on.
Now, in 2026, the White Sox are a winning team with a fair amount of depth. Back in December, Will Venable told MLB.com that he still saw Cannon as a starter. But now it's late in the season and Cannon hasn't gotten much of an opportunity. The organization has moved on from him, for right or for wrong.
It's hard to say what went wrong for him in 2025, but his underlying metrics actually weren't that different from the previous season. So perhaps his 2024 season was more lucky than good.
Cannon mostly throws a sinker, cutter, sweeper, and change-up, with his sinker and cutter being his best offerings. He said himself that he struggled to induce groundballs in 2025, and that was definitely a problem, especially because he primarily relies on his sinker.
But, according to Baseball Savant, his GB% was in the 26th percentile in both 2024 and 2025. That might not be enough grounders, but you can't blame his decline on something that didn't change year-over-year. He also ran a low strikeout rate both years; 17.4% in 2024 and 18.5% in 2025, compared to an MLB average of 22.2%. He threw slightly more pitches inside the zone in 2025 (51% to 47%), and he didn't change his pitch usage much, except that he started using his cutter more than his sinker. The biggest difference between the two seasons is that his sinker cratered in effectiveness, going from +2 in 2024 to -11 in 2025, but it's hard to say why that happened.
Cannon's 2024 season was also uneven, and included a short demotion back to Triple-A. But his career-high was on June 18th, when he pitched 8.2 scoreless innings against the Houston Astros, allowing just one walk and seven hits. That was an outing that would be fantastic for any rookie, and it definitely changed how the organization, and the fans, perceived him. But rather than saying he cratered in 2025, it might be more accurate to say 2024 had highs and lows, while 2025 was more a series of lows.
Jonathan Cannon may have squandered his only big league opportunity
He got a couple relief outings last September, but never became a starter after this Triple-A "reset" in August. He had a chance at the rotation to start this season, but failed to capitalize on it, and ended up back in Triple-A. He got just one chance at a major league game this year, where he walked three batters and didn't record an out. He's still pitching in Triple-A, to a 5.22 ERA, which doesn't really put him in-line for a call-up.
It's hard to say what future Cannon has with the White Sox with Hagen Smith, Drew Thorpe, Shane Smith, David Sandlin, and Tanner McDougal all more likely rotation options than Cannon at this point, and it's hard to see him factoring into the Sox major league plans anytime soon. But the rosters will expand in September, and that could at least give Cannon another shot on the roster. The Sox do need innings, and he's definitely an option.
As the White Sox improve, Cannon has fallen behind. But he's still a talented pitcher who should have some future in the major leagues, whether that's with the White Sox or elsewhere.
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