White Sox pitching development is clear area for growth after heartbreaking Postseason defeat

On October 7th, David Sandlin, Hagen Smith, and Noah Schultz pitched a combined 4.2 innings, giving up a total of four runs as part of an eventual 9-3 loss to the Cleveland Guardians. The following day, Smith was given the start, but lasted only two outs after walking three batters.

It's not the production the White Sox wanted from three of their top pitching prospects. But these three pitchers have been a problem for the Sox all season. Schultz, the Sox former No. 2 prospect, and No. 16 on MLB Pipeline's Top 100, made 14 major league starts with a 5.57 ERA. His season was disrupted by injury, but he never appeared capable of handling a starter's role. Until being moved to the bullpen in September, Schultz had exactly one scoreless outing--a 6-inning game against the Padres in April.

Sandlin, ranked No. 10 in the Sox system, was called up to replace Schultz during the latter's injury. He made six starts and a couple relief appearances, finishing the year with a 5.58 ERA over 40.1 innings. He looked very good in his first couple games, but then started to crater; he spent the rest of the season alternating between the big leagues and Triple-A, never really finding his footing with either.

Hagen Smith had the most successful debut of the three pitchers, with a 1.29 ERA over 28 innings in the bullpen. A shoulder injury has kept him out of the rotation, and it's possible he'll see success as a starter next year. But he's always struggled with his control, posting a high walk rate all through the minors, and always at risk for falling apart. The plan is still to make him a starter, but it's possible the Sox will prefer him as a reliever long-term if that's where he's getting results.

A bullpen arm is good to have, but it's no substitute for a starter. The White Sox struggled substantially with their rotation this year, and would have benefited substantially by having Smith for 5-6 innings rather than one-inning outings, even if it meant a higher ERA.

Tyler Schweitzer and Tanner McDougal have had similarly difficult trajectories. Schweitzer projected as back-end starter/long reliever, but after being a starter early in the minors, he was a full-time reliever this year in his 18 major league games, and in his Triple-A outings. McDougal, like Smith, was shifted to a bullpen role due to injury. In McDougal's case, he was recovering from a flexor strain when the Sox moved him to relief so he could be added to their major league roster sooner.

They plan to use McDougal as a starter in 2027, but the Sox now have a concerning trend where all their top pitching prospects are working as relievers. They relied almost entirely on bullpen games during the postseason. Chris Getz told The New York Times that while he'd like a rotation, he's fine sticking to bullpen games until it no longer works, and cited the team's winning record.

But the White Sox allowed 9 runs to the Guardians in two separate games, and lost both. It's hard to say the bullpen games are working. The Sox had an incredible comeback season, with a winning record and a postseason stint, but baseball is a game of margins. Complacency will come back to get them if they don't keep shooting for the higher level, which showed itself in their ALDS loss.

Getting top pitching prospects back into the rotation should be a priorty in 2027

They have a rare opportunity with a set of strong, major league ready top pitching prospects, but they haven't successfully graduated any of those players. It's a complete departure from their success with position players--Tristan Peters, Sam Antonacci, and Braden Montgomery have all become staples in the Sox starting line-up this year, with Chase Meidroth, Kyle Teel, and Colson Montgomery added last season.

It's not just their most recent set of prospects, either; Shane Smith debuted in 2025 and Jonathan Cannon in 2024. Both players had a successful rookie year, but weren't able to replicate it. Smith was a Rule 5 Draft acquisition, and you could argue that White Sox weren't overly involved with his development.

But that doesn't put them in a better light. He came to their organization capable of starting major league games, and did so successfully. But some mechanical changes altered his game and the White Sox haven't been able to restore him. Both Smith and Cannon have spent the majority of this season posting substandard numbers in Triple-A, and they've lost their pathway towards the Sox rotation. It's a disappointing outcome for two promising young players, but it's also another blow to the Sox depth charts. Not only are they struggling to graduate prospects, they also aren't navigating young players through struggles.

They need to examine how they approach their pitchers. Maybe it's a coaching problem, a scouting problem, or just an issue of pitchers not getting time to develop. But their growing number of struggling pitchers is evident, especially when they've had so much success with position players. Their pitchers struggle with control, posting short outings and high walk rates. Perhaps they should make that their focus. Maybe they should overhaul the pitching side of their player development department, and see if they can bring in new faces.

But something needs to be done. The Sox don't have a history of spending like a big market team. Their best strategy is build a rotation from internal options, and if they lose out with their current set of prospects, they can't easily replace them. If all of their internal pitchers regress to relief roles (which also seems like a likely future outcome for Cannon and Shane Smith), the Sox will be left with a strong bullpen but not much else, and that isn't enough for a winning team.

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