Chicago White Sox rank towards the bottom in The Athletic’s starting rotation rankings

The Chicago White Sox have been looking better over the last few years as the young core is getting promoted to the majors. Their starting pitching staff is a bigger question mark entering 2026, with young pitchers looking to step up. Chicago has some young arms in the minors, but how does their starting pitching rank amongst the rest of MLB? Let’s take a closer look at where one outlet thinks the pitching staff ranks.

The Athletic places the Chicago White Sox’s starting rotation at 28th in MLB

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden wrote an article ranking all 30 MLB starting rotations entering the 2026 season. He placed the White Sox extremely low, as they ranked 28th in the bigs. They are only ahead of the Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies. Below is what Bowden wrote about the team’s rotation:

“The White Sox are waiting for their top pitching prospects – southpaws Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith and right-hander Tanner McDougal – to develop into major leaguers. In the meantime, Shane Smith leads the staff after making his first All-Star team last year as a rookie. They added a couple of veterans in free agency this offseason in lefty Anthony Kay and righty Erick Fedde to join Davis Martin and Sean Burke. They are still a couple of years away from being a competitive team, but are at least trending in the right direction.”

The team has a lot of starting pitching depth. They announced the starting rotation of Shane Smith, Davis Martin, Anthony Kay, Sean Burke, and Erick Fedde. They also have Drew Thorpe and Ky Bush on the Injured List. In addition, Noah Schultz, Tanner McDougal, and Hagen Smith all are beginning in the minor leagues. There is a significant amount of starting pitching depth who can be called upon if needed.

Looking back at last season, the White Sox starting pitchers finished in the bottom-third of the sport in almost every major category.

• ERA: 4.39 (21st)
• WHIP: 1.35 (27th)
• BB/9: 3.56 (28th)
• K/9: 7.60 (25th)
• Innings pitched: 758.2 (30th)

It appears Bowden does not believe the minor leaguers are close to a call-up or they may be higher in this list. The lineup also was not that high in The Athletic’s rankings either, so it may be a long season. It will be interesting to see how they are able to perform this season and if they can climb up the rankings.

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