White Sox' Biggest Flaw (And How It Can Be Fixed) Before the Playoffs Arrive
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The Chicago White Sox are all but certain to make their first postseason appearance since 2021, with a 96.2 percent chance to make the playoffs, per Fangraphs. It's a miraculous turnaround for a team that lost 100+ games in three consecutive seasons. This White Sox team will be the first in MLB history to even make the postseason after two consecutive 100-loss seasons.
With that being said, it's unknown whether the White Sox will win the AL Central division and earn a first-round bye or get the last Wild Card spot. However, one thing is near certain: The White Sox will be playing meaningful baseball in October!
But it could be a quick exit if the White Sox rotation doesn't get in top shape before the playoffs. Chicago's starting pitching is by far their biggest flaw going into the postseason. And it's affecting everything. Their bullpen has pitched an unfathomable number of innings this season, and it's finally starting to catch up to them.
It seems that in every game, the bullpen has to shoulder the majority of the workload for the White Sox because the starters are unable to go five or more innings. Sean Burke has provided practically the only mix of reliable pitching and innings-eating on the team.
Outside of Burke, the rotation has been very shaky. While Erick Fedde has been good when he's on the mound, Will Venable normally doesn't let him go past five innings. Davis Martin and Anthony Kay were reliable in the first half of the season but took a complete nose dive after the break and have been mostly unreliable since.
Meanwhile, Chicago's only trade deadline acquisition at starter, Luis Castillo, has been downright awful and was recently moved to the bullpen.
The White Sox simply must fix this issue with not much time remaining in the regular season. But how will they do that?
A Change the White Sox Can Make Before It's Too Late
The rookies who have come up, such as David Sandlin and Noah Schultz, have been disappointing, with Schultz moved to the bullpen recently. With the trade deadline long gone, there seems to be one quick internal fix that could greatly affect the organization: Call up Drew Thorpe.
Thorpe has been recovering from Tommy John surgery for the last two seasons and has started 10 rehab games in the minors this year. It felt like a foregone conclusion that Thorpe would be on the team by now, but that just hasn't happened for whatever reason.
In those 10 rehab starts, he has pitched to a 2.85 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 41 innings. His next start in Triple-A would likely be on Thursday, when the White Sox have not announced a starter against the Royals.
He has the major league experience and can eat innings for a young team that truly needs it right now. This is one of the only ways White Sox fans might see the team not get completely embarrassed on that side of the ball when they inevitably return to the postseason.
Is it a risk to call up someone who has been out as long as Thorpe? Absolutely, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The White Sox can't take this opportunity for granted. No matter how young they are, their fall from grace over the last handful of seasons should serve as a reminder of how difficult it is to get to this point. GM Chris Getz needs to exhaust all options to set himself up for a postseason run, and Thorpe is one of his best options remaining.
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Matthew Singer is a contributor for White Sox on SI. Before joining SI in 2026, he worked for Heavy as an MLB contributor and Cubs on SI. Singer has a master's degree in sports journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He loves sports more than anything in the world.