After 125 games of a 162-game baseball season, it’s reasonable to expect a team to be tired. Especially for pitchers who have taken the ball regularly all season long, the final two months of the season can be a battle to stay fresh. For a team in the position the White Sox are in, finding fresh arms that can contribute at the big league level can make or break the entire season. With two open spots in their starting rotation and a bullpen heavily taxed, it felt like the perfect opportunity to get some contributions from some of the starting pitching options in Triple-A. Instead, the White Sox are actively choosing to make their situation worse, and it could derail their hopes of October baseball.
After a second consecutive walk-off loss at the hands of the Cubs on Tuesday night, White Sox manager Will Venable spoke to the bullpen situation for the White Sox.
Venable in regards to pitching staff: ‘it’s all hands on deck right now. We’re thin back there right now.’
— Ryan McGuffey (@RyanMcGuffey) August 19, 2026
Also says Taylor was supposed to be multiple innings prior to rain delay. Newcomb was only available in save situation. #WhiteSox
The White Sox recognize the problem but still refuse to fix it
The irony here is that immediately after Venable made this statement, the White Sox announced that LHP Sean Newcomb will open for another likely bullpen game on Wednesday. The White Sox currently have two open spots in their rotation with Davis Martin on the IL and Noah Schultz demoted to Triple-A. Wednesday’s outing lined up perfectly with the rehabbing Drew Thorpe, who reached near the 80-pitch threshold in a strong outing in Charlotte last week. With that pitch count, Thorpe could likely pitch close to five innings, and I’m not sure how much longer the White Sox need him to keep facing minor league hitters. Opening Day starter Shane Smith had a strong outing last week in Charlotte and could’ve slotted into Tuesday’s start against the Cubs, but the White Sox instead chose to ride with Erick Fedde. While Fedde was effective, he wasn’t even able to complete five innings, leading to the further heavy usage of the bullpen.
Erick Fedde and Jose Urquidy are fine in bulk relief spots, but neither are strong enough starting options for a first place team to be throwing out every five days. Filling in for a game or two is one thing, but the White Sox are going to run into this same issue in just a few days. Anthony Kay will likely start Thursday’s make-up game against Atlanta, with Sean Burke and Luis Castillo set for the Mets series. That’ll leave the White Sox in the same position for Sunday and Monday’s games.
Using fatigue as an excuse for poor performance, then continuing to put your team in a position where the fatigue will only get worse is a ridiculous look for the White Sox. Especially after all of this could’ve been prevented by simply being willing to part with prospects to add another starting pitcher at the trade deadline. Instead, the White Sox head down the most crucial stretch of the season with three starting pitchers and a bullpen that continues to rack up the most innings in baseball.
I completely understand the idea of not wanting to jeopardize the future to go all in on a playoff run this year, but letting an opportunity like this go by without putting in a legitimate effort to capitalize would be malpractice. Chris Getz went halfway at the trade deadline, and he’s continuously missed opportunities to put the team in a better position since.
With a tired bullpen expected to cover the majority of the inning again on Wednesday and no off day for another week, the situation is getting dire in Chicago. If Chris Getz, Will Venable, and the rest of the White Sox staff truly care about putting this team in the best position to succeed this year, they’ll do something to rectify the situation. Until they do, I don’t want to hear about how tired they are.
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