Rounding out the starting rotation must also be determined in Cactus League play. Venable plans on drawing from a large pool of candidates.

The Chicago White Sox do not have many ongoing position battles this Spring Training.

That is a good thing as it speaks to the club having a talented young core of players to move toward being competitive. While the White Sox will likely not be competitive in 2026, they should be an exciting team to watch as their young nucleus continues to improve.

Internal improvement is going to be the theme of this season, with wins as a barometer to measure how it is going.

Some positions are up for grabs

Brooks Baldwin and Luisangel Acuña will duel to see who the starting centerfielder will be. The utility infielder and outfielder spots are up for grabs.

Catcher Korey Lee is not technically battling for a position. Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero are firmly entrenched at the catching position. He is fighting to convince the club to carry three catchers, with him providing value as a pinch hitter/runner.

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He has a shot to make it based on providing insurance of not having to give up the designated hitter spot when Teel and Quero are in the lineup together, with one of them being the DH. If manager Will Venable has to pinch run whoever is catching that day, he can slide Lee in and not have to be in a spot to have a pitcher hit in a clutch situation like what happened in a game last season.

There are two or three bullpen spots that must be figured out.

Rounding out the starting rotation must also be determined in Cactus League play. Venable plans on drawing from a large pool of candidates.

Three starting rotation locks

Shane Smith, Davis Martin, and Anthony Kay are likely not among those 10 pitchers Venable was talking about. Their names are written onto the roster in a figurative Sharpie permanent marker.

Smith went from being the top pick in the Rule 5 Draft last year to being an All-Star pitcher for the White Sox. He should be this year’s Opening Day starter. The hope is that Smith goes from being a stud on the mound (his stuff is amazing) to an ace (a pitcher with amazing stuff that can consistently shut down lineups).

Martin is the crafty, solid arm every rotation needs. Kay was signed to a free-agent deal after reviving his big-league hopes with an outstanding run in Japan. Plus, the rotation is going to need a left-handed hurler.

You could argue that Sean Burke, last year’s Opening Day starter, should be penciled in the rotation. However, his inconsistent command led to his demotion to Triple-A. He did show increased velocity when he returned. It still makes sense to see if he can be a dominant pitcher, as he was in four starts in 2024 and on Opening Day last season.

That leaves a lot of candidates for the fifth and final spot in the White Sox starting rotation.

Power ranking the fifth starter competition

Here is how I would power rank the rest of the hurlers trying to get a spot in the rotation. I am basing these rankings on moves made in the offseason, past performance, comments from the general manager or manager, and what makes sense.

1) Erick Fedde—I just do not see him being brought back to the South Side to be a long reliever. I think the team is banking on him reclaiming the magic he had in 2024 by working with pitching director Brian Bannister again.

2) David Sandlin—The team took on Jordan Hicks’ salary just to get Sandlin. General manager Chris Getz spoke glowingly about him. He is the one rookie I see the team not caring about, wanting to manipulate his service time since they have not invested any time in developing him.

3) Sean Newcomb—He was signed with the promise of being given a shot to be a starter. It cannot hurt to have two lefties in the rotation. I just think he fits the roster better as a high-leverage reliever.

4) Mike Vasil—I think this is just getting his arm stretched again, out to be able to handle three to four innings in relief. I think he is still being viewed as a Swiss army knife bullpen arm, which he proved to be in 2025, who can handle high-leverage, closing, and long relief.

5) Jordan Hicks—He will have to have a great Spring Training to win a spot. I think he is going to the bullpen to provide some velocity to that unit.

6) Tanner McDougal—He will have to be amazing to win a job, as I think the front office is prioritizing service time manipulation. It would not shock me to see him get the first call-up in case Fedde fails or there is an injury.

7) Jonathan Cannon—He got knocked around something fierce last season as offenses figured him out. They realized he does not have a knockout strike three pitch. Hitters just sat on his stuff and took their walks. He ran into more trouble when he tried to throw strikes. Cannon just does not have the velocity to miss bats, and he would end up getting hit hard. He must prove his sweeper can be stellar like it was in 2024. Otherwise, he must show he developed a knockout pitch in the offseason. Otherwise, he is just organizational depth at this point. He did a nice job showing he should not be forgotten in his Spring Training opening start against the Cubs.

8) Chris Murphy—I have a feeling they are going to send him to the minors to be stretched out as a depth starter. However, if they need a lefty reliever called up, he will be the guy.

9) Jedixson Paez—I think he is included in this group as more of a way of getting him some innings to get a look at what he can do. He was the team’s Rule 5 first-round pick this year. You can bet the front office wants to make an educated decision on whether to carry him on the 26-man roster. Unlike Shane Smith, Paez has never pitched above High-A ball. He will be asked to make a huge jump in competition. I doubt the team asks him to do that in a starter role. If he shows he can get big-league hitters out in Cactus League play, he can be stashed in long relief.

10) Shane Murphy—He had an amazing season at Double-A. The organization still left him exposed to the Rule 5 Draft by not adding him to the 40-man roster. Good thing he is a slow-stuff pitcher, as I got the feeling that is why he was drafted or added to the 40-man. I am thinking he is going to Triple-A to see if he can get the next level of hitters out with his stuff that lacks velocity.

No shot of winning a spot

Venable has confirmed that the organization’s top pitching prospects, Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith, do not have a chance to win a spot in the White Sox rotation when camp breaks. Both are in camp as non-roster invitees. It sounds like they will be on the same plan as last Spring Training. They will get some appearances in a couple of Cactus League games, train with the big-league club for a few weeks, and then head to minor-league camp.

The goal is to get their arms ready to handle a big-league workload in the minors after injuries and inconsistency derailed that last year.

Duncan Davitt is on the 40-man roster. I have a hunch he is being viewed as a depth starter who pitches in Triple-A. He will get a look only if the rotation is ravaged with injuries.