White Sox need big things from rotation of they want to entertain the notion of being contenders

GLENDALE, Ariz. — For a team that likes to say it’s sitting on the verge of escaping from the land of losses — 100 plus for the last three seasons is where they stayed — the White Sox aren’t exactly stacked with starting pitching.

Pitching is still king, and it starts with the starters. There’s no no-brainer choice for Opening Day four weeks from now, and the top three in the projected rotation have an average of 162 major league innings of experience between them.

In order, Shane Smith, Davis Martin and left-hander Anthony Kay have grips on the top three spots. Erick Fedde, a $1.5 million last-minute addition as a free agent signed before camp opened, is back after getting traded away in 2024 and likely has the fourth spot to lose. Fedde threw two scoreless innings against the Rangers in his spring debut Friday.

“My mentality this whole time is that spot’s not mine,” Fedde said. “I have to earn it.”

Sean Burke, the surprise 2025 Opening Day starter who didn’t last the season in the majors, could be the fifth starter. Burke allowed two earned runs on three hits and a walk against the Brewers in a split squad game.

“It’s a strength that we have a lot of question marks because competition is very high right now,” Martin said.

The pitching group is closely knit, Martin said, citing another strength. He insists there’s value there.

“It’s hard to explain but everybody has played with someone, at one level or another, with a starter in your rotation who is hoping you do bad so it makes them look better,” Martin said. “We don’t have that. Everybody celebrates the other guy’s victory and if someone has a bad game, you pick him up. It’s a really big thing. It makes for a lot less toxic environment knowing the guys actually give a crap about you.”

Lefties Sean Newcomb and Chris Murphy and right-hander Jonathan Cannon also want in on the competition. Mike Vasil wants a chance to get out of the bullpen and be a starter, too.

Competing against friends in spring training is “weird," Fedde said, but the best rotations he’s been a part of compete against each other.

“I see that nature in a lot of these guys,” he said.

But camaraderie and competition within the group only goes so far. After going 60-102 last season, most betting sites set the Sox over/under for wins this season between 64 and 67 while PECOTA’s sabremetric system is kinder, projecting the Sox for 69 victories.

That would represent improvements of four to nine more wins than last season, decent but not significant in large part because of what the rotation looks like on paper.

It’s what the Sox have to go with now while top prospects such as first-round lefties Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith get development starts at Triple-A Charlotte.

“These guys just need to continue to throw strikes, do their thing,” manager Will Venable said. “They’re all working on something different. They just need to command their arsenal, do everything they need to do, control the running game, just continue to throw strikes and we’ll see how it all shakes out at the end of it.”