The Chicago White Sox have had their share of progress and challenges on the pitching front throughout 2025.
Shane Smith went from Rule 5 selection to becoming an All-Star. Sean Burke and Jonathan Cannon went from starting the first two games of the season to spending time together in Triple A.
There have been injuries (Martín Pérez) and opportunities (Yoendrys Gómez), signings (Adrian Houser) and trade pieces (Aaron Civale).
Senior adviser to pitching Brian Bannister discussed the staff’s development — and what’s next — Friday at Rate Field.
“With what we’ve spent on pitching and what these guys have been able to go do, and with a lot of them — in Shane Smith’s case, (and) Yoendrys’, just very limited major-league experience and coming out here and having an impact, as we start to layer in and bring in more veteran names, names with more experience, higher ceilings, etc., I think it’s going to be special,” Bannister said of the rotation. “But I think the backbone of it is us being creative, us being able to produce pitching internally, adding (prospects such as) the Hagen Smiths and the Noah Schultzes and higher upside guys.
“But really just being able to find pitching, do with some names what other teams are not able to do, which is why they get rid of them, and come in and really figure out their arsenals and collaborate with those pitchers and turn them into quality major-league starters, I think is going to be our foundation and then we’ll keep layering on top of that.”
Shane Smith has made a team-leading 27 starts. The rookie is 6-8 with a 4.06 ERA and a team-leading 129 strikeouts. He’s second to Davis Martin on the club in innings pitched (138 1/3 to 135 1/3).
Bannister said the addition of a changeup and two-seamer were helpful.
“We’ve been good with the seam-effect stuff here and able to get a lot out of those types of pitchers,” Bannister said. “It’s a very nuanced concept. Adrian Houser (who went 6-2 with a 2.10 ERA in 11 starts this season with the Sox before being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays) was another guy that really benefited from that and getting it dialed in.”
The work also continues for Cannon and Burke.
White Sox right-hander Jonathan Cannon walks back to the dugout during a pitching change in the fourth inning against the Twins on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Abbie Parr/AP)
Cannon has a 5.67 ERA in 20 outings (17 starts). The Sox optioned him to Charlotte on Aug. 8, he returned on Sept. 4 and was optioned back to Triple A the next day.
“I think any young starter there’s always an initial impact and then the league figures out how to adjust back,” Bannister said. “And so for Jonathan, it’s really — he’s going to be a sinker-baller, we need more ground-ball percentage because we need to suppress the homers (18 this season). So you just saw as they stacked more lefties, more homers this year relative to last year. So those have been the conversations with him. He’s iterating through a couple ideas to get that ground-ball percentage higher.”
Burke has a 4.29 ERA in 26 appearances (21 starts). The Sox optioned him to Charlotte on Aug. 18 and he returned Sept. 10. He is the scheduled starter for Sunday’s final home game of the season.
“(Burke) iterated through a sinker, a changeup, a couple things and it took a little bit away from his spin talent because he does have really good spin talent,” Bannister said. “You’ve seen his velo spike as he’s kind of gone back to his natural process being on the outside of the ball and spinning the ball. We’re just working on adding depth and power to some of his breaking offerings.”
Looking ahead, Bannister is intrigued by the number of pitchers — such as Drew Thorpe and Ky Bush — returning at some point in 2026 from injuries.
“There’s going to be a lot of talented arms that are already ready for Triple A or the big leagues and almost not enough roster spots,” Bannister said. “When you look at guys coming back, the heavy discussions are going to be how do we get the most out of everybody. How do we help everybody reach their ceilings? And how do we maximize their skill set?
“So I think you’ll see some guys go into shortened roles, really to just take advantage of their present stuff. And also we’re going to have to be smart with workloads, guys coming back from surgeries.”
And the Sox will have an interesting decision to make with Grant Taylor, who has spent most of this season working out of the bullpen. The right-hander, who struck out two while earning his fifth save in Friday’s 4-3 victory against the San Diego Padres, began 2025 in Double A as a starter.
“I think he can pitch in multiple roles,” Bannister said, “and it’s really just seeing what he wants to do most and where he’s going to have the biggest impact. I’m still open to him pitching in any role.”