White Sox unconventional pitching strategy could be ideal for Astros Wild Card matchup

Despite some early September struggles, the White Sox closed out the regular season strong, going 7-3 over their final ten games. It wasn’t enough to win the AL Central, and Cleveland’s 8-2 final stretch put them over the top and set the White Sox up for a Wild Card date with Houston beginning on Tuesday. The White Sox starting pitching inconsistency and general lack of innings has been the team’s biggest problem for the majority of 2026, and they have a tough task in front of them against a strong Astros lineup, which features the likely AL MVP. Will Venable has been unafraid to take an unconventional approach to the pitching staff all year, and that’s unlikely to change now. 

The White Sox lead MLB by using an opener in 31 games this season. Nearly every pitcher in the White Sox bullpen opened a game at some point, with the team often trying to get favorable matchups early in the game. They’ve seen mixed results in those games, going 17-14 in the games that were started by an opener in the regular season. The White Sox most commonly used an opener for Erick Fedde, but even at times for Davis Martin, Sean Burke, and Anthony Kay. In a series of games that are all must-win, I expect them to continue to try and find the optimal matchups. 

The Astros lineup, powered by likely MVP Yordan Alvarez, leads Major League Baseball in home runs against right-handed pitchers. With Anthony Kay having started in Sunday’s season finale, the White Sox don’t have another left-handed starter to start against Houston. Alvarez, in particular, has an eye-opening 1.1119 OPS against right-handed pitching, while his .821 mark against lefties is still strong but more reasonable. It would certainly make sense to make Alvarez face a lefty for his first at bat whenever possible. Sean Newcomb, Bryan Hudson, and Hagen Smith could be options to take on that role, and Newcomb seems like the best of the group. 

With Erick Fedde likely for Game 1, an opener is the optimal move for White Sox

The White Sox made an interesting pitching decision earlier this week by starting Sean Burke on Friday instead of Thursday, making him unlikely to be available for Game 1 of the Wild Card series. Davis Martin, who seemed like the favorite to start Game 2, pitched Saturday, so he probably wouldn’t be available until game 3, if necessary. That likely leaves Erick Fedde as the bulk pitcher in Game 1 for the White Sox. Fedde ended the season with surprisingly strong numbers, posting a 3.83 ERA in 141 innings with the White Sox this season. The right-hander got off to a slow start, but posted a 2.39 ERA in June, 3.18 in July, and closed the year with a 1.53 ERA in September. 

The one drawback of Erick Fedde is his tendency to give up home runs. He surrendered 23 of them this year– three of them coming in his only start against Houston this year. It’s a scary matchup between a pitcher who surrenders a lot of home runs and a team that hits a lot of home runs. That’s why using an opener, like Newcomb, who gives up very few home runs, to face the Astros big sluggers the first time through could be the ideal strategy. 

It wouldn’t surprise me if the White Sox even use an opener for Sean Burke in Game two. Burke has been the team’s most dominant starter all year, but has been even better when the team has used an opener in front of him. In five games in which he didn’t start in 2026, Burke posted a 1.50 ERA. Even though he’s been the best starter in their rotation, giving a tougher matchup to some of the Astros power hitters early in front of Burke isn’t a bad idea. After all, these are must win games. 

It’s going to be a tough task for the White Sox to go into Houston and take two games against the Astros, but they’ve been met with tough tasks all year and often come through. We’ll see if the Southsiders magical season has a little left in the tank starting Tuesday.

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