Ky Bush is one of the many promising young arms the Chicago White Sox have in their highly regarded farm system.
However, they will be without him for at least year as he will need Tommy John surgery according to Sox general manager Chris Getz.
Ky Bush is having Tommy John surgery Wednesday per Chris Getz.
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) February 11, 2025
Injuries like this are a big reason to always have some caution when it comes to being hopeful about the Sox future.
Bush was ranked as the Sox 11th-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline's year-end rankings. He was typically in the team's top 10 until the addition of catcher Kyle Teel and outfielder Brandon Montgomery in the Garrett Crochet trade knocked him out of that range.
Bush is a big left-handed arm the organization loves. He did make four big-league starts last season, but he struggled with his command and was eventually demoted back to the minors.
He had a 5.60 ERA in those four starts with 11 strikeouts and 16 walks. Bush had a 2.12 ERA in 14 starts for Double-A Birmingham. He did not fair quite as well at Triple-A Charlotte with a 7.01 in six appearances which included four starts.
However, the Knights played in bandbox ballpark so you have to take any hurlers' ERA with a grain of salt.
Now Bush is lost for the season and the Sox lose a young arm that could have provided some depth in the rotation this season or even out of the bullpen considering he is 25.
It seems like this always happens with White Sox when it comes to one of their promising pitching prospects. Needing Tommy John surgery is always the risk you take when it comes to young arms.
Thankfully, the White Sox still have a boatload of promising young hurlers where his loss is not catastrophic.
Top prospect Noah Schultz is considered the best left-handed pitching prospect. Last year's first-round pick Hagen Smith is not far behind him in the rankings.
Grant Taylor also has shown a ton of promise at Single-A, but a lat injury caused him to miss the bulk of the season.
The potential for an arm injury is one reason Schultz only threw every Saturday last season and it was only for four innings.
There is nothing wrong with being hopeful that better days are ahead for the White Sox when you look at the promising young arms they have. At the same time, you cannot take it to the bank all these guys will make it to the majors, let alone be good.
That is why it also made sense for the White Sox to draft Smith in the first-round last year because this organization has been good at developing left-handed starters. Also, it can never hurt to have enough pitching because you never know when an injury like with has happened to Ky Bush pops up.