The Chicago White Sox need one player to step up in 2026 to advance their rebuild

The Chicago White Sox are on the precipice of being a competitive team once again, but are still a few pieces of the puzzle short of being a finished product.

More News: Chicago White Sox sign Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami to two-year deal

The White Sox’s signing of Japanese slugger Muentaka Murakami indicated their willingness to take a step forward in competing this upcoming season after their young core of prospects showed some signs of life. Led by Rookie of the Year Finalist (fifth) shortstop Colson Montgomery, the White Sox will need him and the rest of their prospects to show some growth in 2025 to compete with the likes of the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians.

The Chicago White Sox need Colson Montgomery to take a step forward in his development to help their rebuild

Despite having a trove of prospects in their system, not all of them will hit and be future foundational pieces of the White Sox roster. Montgomery is one of those foundational pieces that general manager Chris Getz hopes will lead the White Sox to their first postseason appearance since 2021.

For next season, the White Sox will need Montgomery and Murakami (21 and 24 home runs, respectively) to provide the power necessary for the White Sox to score enough runs (27th, 647) to continue to get better in their win total. According to Baseball Reference, Montgomery is projected to be about the same next season, jumping 13 points in his batting average (going from .239 to .252) and taking a dip in his home run total by two (19).

If the White Sox want to further progress in their rebuild, Montgomery will need to be better than these projections.

The White Sox also need to add starting pitching to their young hitting core

Even though the White Sox have an exciting young hitting core, it won’t mean anything if they don’t supplement it with starting pitching and depth in the bullpen. The White Sox’s overall pitching staff ranked 20th in the major leagues for ERA (4.26) and was 21st for their starters’ ERA (4.39), while their bullpen ranked 18th (4.16), but ranked dead last in saves (25).

The White Sox have a few internal options to eat a bulk of the innings they need to fill for 2026, but they still should add a couple more arms to their rotation, with pitchers RHP Drew Thorpe and LHP Ky Bush coming off Tommy John surgery. The White Sox’s lone All-Star in 2025, RHP Shane Smith, appears to be manager Will Venable’s No. 1 and potential Opening Day starter heading into 2026, which will be a massive order for Smith to fill in his sophomore season.

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