For years managers used that basic blueprint, or something close to it, to get through the regular season. Then when the playoffs arrived, the best three or four starters went longer because the season was almost over and they could empty their bullets in the biggest games.<\/p>\n
But baseball has changed, for better or worse, and now anything goes. Boston Red Sox ace Sonny Gray was removed in the fifth inning of a do-or-die wild-card game Wednesday<\/a>, and Gray and his teammates grumbled about how the game got to this point.<\/p>\n Which brings us to the 2026 Chicago White Sox, who are trying to win with a \u201cno-rotation\u201d rotation.<\/a><\/p>\n Will Venable, the second-year White Sox manager, announced Friday that left-handed reliever Hagen Smith would start Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, serving as the opener Saturday, as he did in pitching three scoreless innings in Game 1 of the wild-card win<\/a> in Houston.<\/p>\n It\u2019s no surprise. The Sox have used openers a league-leading 32 times this season, including Smith\u2019s outing Tuesday. If it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it.<\/p>\n But does the no-rotation rotation have its limits, or can Venable\u2019s Sox keep succeeding in the postseason with a bullpen-first strategy?<\/p>\n Venable acknowledged Sean Burke could start Game 2 on Monday, as he did in a four-inning start in Game 2 against the Astros, in which starters Anthony Kay and Erick Fedde both pitched in relief. But other than Burke, it might be a guessing game from here on out.<\/p>\n Can Smith come back to start Game 3 at home Wednesday, giving him three starts in their first five playoff games? Who knows what\u2019s up Venable\u2019s sleeve?<\/p>\n \u201cI think the way it\u2019s set up with these off days, we\u2019re going to leverage the arms that we want to leverage when we want to use them throughout these first couple,\u201d Venable said. \u201cAnd if that means that one of the guys who we\u2019ve been giving starts to throughout the season takes a bulk role in that, there\u2019s certainly potential for that. But I think you can expect us to mix and match and use our best arms in the most optimal way.\u201d<\/p>\n That suggests Smith and Grant Taylor can be the designated bookends of multiple games, with Jordan Hicks, David Sandlin and Sean Newcomb in the middle and Kay, Fedde and Davis Martin as the wild cards.<\/p>\n Chicago White Sox in the playoffs: Schedule set for AL Division Series vs. Cleveland Guardians<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n It\u2019s almost the polar-opposite approach that then-manager Ozzie Guill\u00e9n employed in the 2005 postseason, when Jos\u00e9 Contreras, Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia and Jon Garland combined for a 2.84 ERA in 12 starts, leading the Sox on an 11-1 run to their World Series title.<\/a><\/p>\n In the five-game win over the Anaheim Angels in the AL Championship Series, the four starters had four straight complete games and combined for 44 1\/3 of the 45 total innings, with Neal Cotts contributing the other two outs in the ninth inning of the Game 1 loss. The rest of the bullpen had a nice seat to watch the starters dealing.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if you\u2019ll ever see that again,\u201d Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said afterward. \u201cManagers just don\u2019t do that anymore. They don\u2019t have confidence to let guys go 120 pitches and throw nine innings.\u201d<\/p>\n In the World Series, advance scout Bryan Little and his crew gave Guill\u00e9n and pitching coach Don Cooper<\/a> a near-perfect report on strengths and weaknesses of the Astros hitters. Contreras and Buerhle both went seven innings in the first two wins at Sox Park, and Garland went seven in Game 3 in Houston before the Astros tied it off Dustin Hermanson in the eighth.<\/p>\n Guill\u00e9n was forced to use his well-rested bullpen when the game went 14 innings but also used Orlando \u201cEl Duque\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez and Buehrle. After Geoff Blum\u2019s go-ahead home run in the 14th, Buehrle notched the infamous \u201cbuzzed save\u201d by getting the final out after having a few beers in the clubhouse. \u201cNo more than three \u2026 I swear,\u201d he later said.<\/p>\n Buehrle wound up on a Wheaties box, but he didn\u2019t become a legend<\/a> for his cereal-eating habits.<\/p>\n Game 4 was as old-school as it gets, with Garcia going seven shutout innings, Cliff Politte and Cotts getting the Sox through the eighth and Bobby Jenks closing out a 1-0 win to start the parade plans.<\/p>\n \u201cThat type of game is like the ones I watched for 162 games during the regular season,\u201d Guill\u00e9n said in the celebratory clubhouse.<\/p>\n Venable\u2019s approach in the postseason also mirrors what he has done for much of the season.<\/p>\n General manager Chris Getz knew he didn\u2019t have a dominant rotation in spring training, and opening-day starter Shane Smith was quickly dispatched to Triple-A Charlotte after three starts. Martin, Burke, Kay and Fedde have been the mainstays, though Fedde, who signed at the start of spring training, had only 15 starts in his 33 games.<\/p>\n Taylor has evolved into the de facto closer but can go three innings if needed. He also was used as an opener in April. Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez led the team 12 saves, even after being dispatched at the trade deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/CTC-L-sox-rockies029.jpg\")
White Sox reliever Hagen Smith follows through on a pitch against the Rockies on Sept. 25, 2026, at Rate Field. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"White](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/CTC-L-SOX-BUEHRLE_c6d0b8.jpg\")
White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle enters in relief in the 14th inning of 7-5 win over Astros in Game 3 of the World Series on Oct. 25, 2005, in Houston. (Scott Strazzante\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"White](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/CTC-L-White-Sox-Astros-game-1-051.jpg\")
White Sox reliever Grant Taylor, left, and catcher Kyle Teel head to the dugout after the eighth inning against the Astros in Game 1 of the wild-card series Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in Houston. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n