Minor-League Lefties Make Strong Impression On White Sox Front Office

CHICAGO –– As the White Sox continue to rebuild, at least two minor-league pitchers have made compelling cases to be part of the future.

That'd be fellow left-handers Shane Murphy and Jake Palisch, who have pitched at multiple levels this season and impressed White Sox senior advisor to pitching Brian Bannister.

"They've been fantastic. They're extreme strike-throwers," Bannister said. "... But just their ability to have some natural deception. They hide the ball very well. They're left-handed. They're going to play a role on our team."

"It's just continuing to upgrade their stuff and continuing to let them go out and pound the zone the way they do. They're fearless. They believe in themselves and that's why you can never have too many lefties."

Murphy's breakout season

Murphy entered the year as an under-the-radar prospect, ranked outside the White Sox top 30, per the MLB Pipeline. But that didn't deter the 6-foot-5 lefty from putting up big numbers.

Spending most of the season with the Double-A Birmingham Barons, Murphy posted a 1.38 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP with 82 strikeouts and just 15 walks across 110.2 innings, 20 starts and 18 appearances. He was named

"I joke with Shane every time I see him that we had to get him out of Double-A so somebody else could win the pitcher of the week award," Bannister said. "Because it felt like he won almost all of them."

#WhiteSox fans, get to know the name Shane Murphy.@BhamBarons manager Guillermo Quiroz joined @ChuckGarfien
on The White Sox Podcast to talk why the 24-year-old LHP is someone to keep an eye on 👀

FULL EPISODE ➡️ https://t.co/q5jP0QvBjY pic.twitter.com/7e9QnKvrGy
— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) September 6, 2025

Murphy earned a late-season promotion, joining the Triple-A Charlotte Knights for three starts in September. Despite facing better competition, he remained effective and allowed just four earned runs in 14.2 innings, including a five-inning shutout.

Across 28 appearances at three levels this season, Murphy held opponents to three runs or fewer in every outing and allowed two runs or fewer in 26 chances. He also recorded 11 shutouts, 10 of which spanned five innings or more.

The White Sox selected Murphy, 24, in the 14th round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

Palisch's progression

Alongside Murphy in Double-A Birmingham for most of the year, Palisch had a similarly productive season. In total, he pitched 105 innings and recorded a 2.15 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP with 67 strikeouts and 26 walks.

Palisch began the season in the bullpen, but transitioned to a starting role in May. Over his first five starts, he allowed just two earned runs in 33 innings. He'd continue starting games through late July before being moved back to the bullpen.

Congratulations to Jake Palisch as he was named Southern League Pitcher of the Month.

Palisch went 2-1 with a 0.75 ERA in five games (four starts) as he scattered seven hits and six walks with 22 strikeouts over 24.0 innings. pic.twitter.com/w1bQU3rTmg
— Birmingham Barons (@BhamBarons) June 7, 2025

The 6-foot-4 lefty far exceeded his career-high in innings this season, having pitched just 97.2 across his first three professional seasons in the White Sox organization. So he moved back to a relief role in August and had a more limited workload, pitching just 26 innings over the final two months of the season.

But he remained effective out of the bullpen, allowing one run or fewer in nine out of 10 appearances. The outlier was a five-run outing on Aug. 31, which accounted for more earned runs than he had given up across his 11 other appearances from July 20 through Sept. 21.

Palisch also made his MLB debut on June 21 and gave up two earned runs in one inning before being sent back down to Double-A.

Murphy's breakout season

Palisch's progression

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