White Sox dire search for innings continues with second prospect promotion in 2 days

Just one day after promoting 23rd-ranked prospect Tyler Schweitzer for his major league debut, the White Sox have promoted another prospect to the big leagues for the first time. 26 year-old righty Duncan Davitt, who the White Sox acquired in the deadline trade that sent Adrian Houser to the Rays last season, will be joining the White Sox for their trip to Kansas City this weekend. Davitt just barely cracked the White Sox top 30 prospects on MLB Pipeline, ranking at number 30. 

Duncan Davitt's durability makes him a key asset for the White Sox

A former 18th round pick in 2022 from the University of Iowa, Davitt rose quickly through the Rays farm system thanks to a pair of strong offspeed pitches. His fastball sits in the low-90s, but his sweeper and curveball are his primary out pitches. Davitt has been a reliable arm that surpassed 130 innings pitched in each of the past two seasons. His strong 3.62 ERA in 2024 put him on the radar as a prospect, though he’s struggled at a more hitter-friendly level in Triple-A. He’s allowed seven earned runs in eight innings so far this season in Charlotte. 

Davitt’s role with the White Sox is not yet known, though most of his experience is as a starter. The White Sox bullpen has been used heavily in the early going, so Davitt could simply be reinforcements for a tired unit, but the White Sox now have an opening in their rotation after the team’s decision to option Shane Smith to Triple-A. Davitt could conceivably be one of the candidates to fill in for Smith’s starting role. It seems to me, though, that the White Sox are reshuffling arms to prepare for a bullpen game on Sunday, which will then buy the team some time to make the decision regarding Smith’s rotation spot. 

With Davitt heading to Chicago, lefty Tyler Schweitzer will head back to Charlotte after just one appearance with the big league club. Schweitzer allowed one run with two hits over 1.1 innings, striking out Pete Alonso for his first big league strikeout. Now that he’s on the 40-man roster, I anticipate seeing Schweitzer again before the season ends. His ability to provide length will surely be a valuable trait for a White Sox team looking to find enough innings to get through a long season. I expect a ton of reshuffling of arms throughout the season as the White Sox look to fill innings vacated by Mike Vasil’s season-ending surgery. 

White Sox fans have had a roller coaster of a season so far, but Davitt will be the fifth player to make his big league debut for the team this season, and the arrival of the young talent remains the primary thing to watch during a rebuilding year. Hopefully Davitt will earn his place as a fixture on the White Sox pitching staff, and his presence on the roster will become permanent.