Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon has not looked like himself in his three most recent outings.
Cannon started the 2025 season with a 3.60 ERA through nine starts and 50 innings. Cannon had put together a string of four consecutive quality starts from April 26-May 13 and went 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA and only two walks surrendered during that stretch.
Over his last three times taking the mound, Cannon's ERA has ballooned to 4.66. He gave up five earned runs over 5.2 innings against the New York Mets and got shelled for five runs in three inning against the Detroit Tigers on Monday.
Some of Cannon's pitches against the Tigers on Monday looked like batting practice. Detroit got him for three home runs in three innings and hit four balls with an exit velocity over 100 mph.
Cannon lands on Injured List
After that kind of performance, it's natural to be concerned about Cannon and the trajectory that he's on as a big league starter. But White Sox manager Will Venable seemed to attribute most of his struggles to a back injury that Cannon was pitching through.
“We have to get him evaluated,” Venable said of Cannon after Monday's game. “I’m not so sure that his back isn’t bothering him a little bit. He says he feels fine. We’ll do some evaluation and see where he’s at.”
After some evaluation, the White Sox clearly felt that Cannon wasn't 100 percent himself. He was placed on the 15-day Injured List on Tuesday and reliever Caleb Freeman was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.
The White Sox have not yet announced their plans for replacing Cannon's spot in the rotation. It's possible they will fill the vacancy with a bullpen game every fifth day or by throwing Bryse Wilson back into the occasional spot start.
25-year-old Owen White is also an option. He's on the 40-man roster and has started nine games in the minor leagues this season. White last pitched on May 30, so jumping into Cannon's rotation spot on June 6 could theoretically work.
Regardless of what the Sox decide to do, I'm far less worried about Cannon now than I was before the details of his injury came out.
I've got confidence that when he returns from the IL, he'll look more like the guy we saw through the first nine starts of the season than the pitcher who has struggled for the last two weeks.
Young pitching is the biggest silver lining for White Sox fans right now and Cannon is a big reason for the growing optimism that the organization could turn things around in the next few years. Chicago needs him at his best.