No one expected the Chicago White Sox to be playoff contenders, but mounting preseason injuries are making it doubtful that the Sox will exceed expectations.
MLB.com’s Scott Merkin reported that pitchers Prelander Berroa and Juan Carela will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery soon. Berroa has been on the Sox IL since the end of February with a strained right elbow, and Carela is the latest player to the list of nine ailing players.
Prelander Berroa and Juan Carela both will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery in the coming days. Both surgeries will be performed by Dr. Keith Meister
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) March 7, 2025
Although the outfield depth is most worrisome, the Sox are three weeks out from Opening Day, Berroa and Carela’s injuries are a blow to an inexperienced pitching squad.
Berroa showed plenty of promise in his first season in the Majors last year with the Sox. He closed three of the 17 games he pitched in, and earned a 3.32 ERA and 1.47 WHIP over 19 innings. With a high-90s fastball that gets plenty of whiffs, Berroa demonstrated his ceiling as an effective reliever who could’ve won the closing job this year. His absence from the bullpen will be felt as the Sox try to blow fewer leads in 2025.
While Carela has yet to make an MLB 40-man roster, his talent is underrated. Listed as the Sox’s No. 21 prospect, Carela has the potential to be a star starting pitcher. He held a 3.71 ERA and 1.24 WHIP last year between 23 High-A and Double-A games. His pitch arsenal of a mid-90s fastball and sinker mixed with a low to mid-80s sweeping and regular slider has been highly praised by scouts. Carela was supposed to debut this year in the bullpen as an innings-eater, but he is capable of becoming a starter at the back of the rotation.
The Sox now have seven pitchers on the IL. Reliever Jesse Scholtens has been on the 60-day IL since spring last year when he underwent Tommy John surgery. His return timeline is unknown. Chicago also lost starter Ky Bush to Tommy John surgery for the season before spring training began.
As the injuries continue to grow, general manager Chris Getz will have to start exploring the free agency pool more aggressively. The Sox can neither rely on prospects to fill in the roster holes nor allow the 2025 season to go as it did last year.