The Chicago White Sox Rotation May Surprise People in 2025

As I continue my week in Arizona at White Sox Spring Training, one area of the White Sox organizational depth continues to shine well above the rest in terms of future outlook.

While the roster as a whole is far from any sort of contention, the starting rotation could quickly become worth keeping the watch in Chicago.

Losing Garrett Crochet is a massive hit to the staff, but this young rotation could start to emerge this season ahead of taking another leap in 2026.

The majority of the rotation will feature young talent, but the White Sox added one veteran starter to be a leader and hopefully return value at the trade deadline with a strong first half.

Martin Perez debuted in 2012 and has spent a large portion of his career with the Rangers while making various other stops. After being traded to the contending Padres last trade deadline, he pitched to a 3.46 ERA across his final 10 starts of the year.

After signing with the White Sox in the offseason, Perez is trying to impart knowledge upon the young arms.

Perez said after his start Wednesday that he wants to share with them aspects of mentality as a pitcher and how to prepare properly for the season and games. His experience seems to be part of what made him a good fit for this White Sox team.

If Perez can be near what he was for the Padres on the mound last season, the White Sox should be able to thank him for his time and flip him at the deadline in order to turn his rotation spot over to a prospect.

Regardless of his results on the mound, Perez will be an asset for this staff to bounce ideas off throughout the early months of the season.

The other “veteran” in this rotation following Perez has just 113.1 MLB innings under his belt. Davis Martin returned from injury last season after working his way back and earned a rotation spot heading into 2025 after tossing 50 solid innings.

Featuring a revamped arsenal led by a kick changeup, Martin showed show of the promise he did as a rookie in 2025. He faced a Dodgers lineup which included Shohei Ohtani in his latest spring start on Sunday.

Martin admitted after his start that he struggled to get the first batter out last season. Well, he struck out the best player in baseball this time around.

“There’s no one better to really make sure you’re ready to go than Shohei Ohtani,” said Martin.

Martin’s outing against the Dodgers was a strong one on Sunday as he turned in two scoreless and hitless innings with three strikeouts.

Making adjustments to his arsenal throughout the offseason was a priority for Martin as he gets ready for hopefully a full season in the starting rotation. Reluctant at first to disclose anything, he discussed a new pitch when I asked him about the sinker many noticed he started to throw.

"Playing with pitches, playing with sequences. How to throw in the sinker and then throwing something else off that sinker," said Davis Martin on his added sinker.

He only threw 1 today, but it's an interesting add to the arsenal at ~2.5 mph > than the kick change. @FutureSox

— Elijah Evans (@ElijahEv8) March 2, 2025

A similar but differentiated offering to the kick change, Martin is looking to take his sequence to the next level with the new pitch mixed in with everything else.

Not as highly regarded coming into camp last year as some of the other pitching prospects, Jonathan Cannon made his debut in April last season and locked down a rotation spot heading into this season.

At just 24 years old, Cannon now finds himself as one of the leaders of the young core of pitchers based on his experience last season at the big league level.

“It’s been a big change from last year to this year. I’m still a young guy in this clubhouse, but with a little bit of experience compared to the other younger guys,” said Cannon.

Cannon emphasized that the common goal is the same and it’s a collective process as they all work to get better together. We talked about the uber-talented prospects that he’s getting to see more of in big league camp this year.

Sometimes, even big league players are just like fans when it comes to admiring talent.

Jonathan Cannon has become a leader among the pitchers even in just his second year. I asked him about watching guys like Schultz and Hagen develop

“I’m like you guys, I love watching them. I sneak out to the backfields to see them throw,” said Cannon. @FutureSox

— Elijah Evans (@ElijahEv8) March 3, 2025

After posting a 4.49 ERA across 23 games in his rookie season, Cannon is opening up his arsenal more this season after trying to refine it last spring. He said that being more flexible compared to his plan of attack last season is the goal.

“I was pretty concrete [last year], like sinker sweeper to righties, changeup cutter to lefties. Let’s hone in on using everything and using all the weapons,” said Cannon. “I have to be able to get guys out in multiple ways…that was a learning experience last year.”

When facing lefties, Cannon mentioned one pitch may be a key for him.

“That front hip sinker to lefties, that’s such a game-changing pitch. I think it’s one of the hardest pitches to throw. For a hitter, it’s almost impossible to swing at,” said Cannon.

Cannon is in the running for the Opening Day start and while he doesn’t profile as having the upside of some arms in the system, he should be a steady presence in the rotation.

Those three starters are penciled into the rotation, but Sean Burke is not far behind as he’s very likely to be the fourth starter. He debuted last year and showed signs of a high-upside arm in his first four MLB appearances. Read all about Burke’s potential in this rotation in this offseason piece.

Burke said after his start on Monday that he believes he deserves to be part of the rotation but is focused on continuing to improve this spring.

He’s working on continuing to work on his slider which showed well last season. Burke explained that the pitch is at its best when he’s able to adjust the shape of it a little based situation.

Sean Burke continues to make adjustments to try and lock down a rotation spot. I asked about his slider, which at times was excellent last year.

"When my slider is best, I'm able to manipulate it, throw a more cuttery one and then one with more depth," said Burke. @FutureSox

— Elijah Evans (@ElijahEv8) March 3, 2025

Beyond those four, the likely final starter would have been Drew Thorpe if he entered camp entirely healthy. Unfortunately, Thorpe suffered a setback at the start of camp and has yet to enter a Spring Training game.

I watched him throw about 25-30 pitches in a bullpen on Monday, so he’s definitely working his way back into form. He’ll likely start in Charlotte to build his arm up before joining the White Sox rotation about a month into the season.

Despite a couple tough outings in his rookie season prior to being shut down, Thorpe showed promise. He was the centerpiece of the Dylan Cease trade last year and is still viewed as a big piece of the future.

For now, offseason signing Bryse Wilson appears to be the favorite for the final rotation spot. He pitched to a 4.04 as the swingman in Milwaukee last season and could play exactly that role for a young White Sox pitching staff this season.

Wilson tossed three innings on Wednesday, allowing one run on three hits against his former team. There was no video or statcast for this game though, which makes it hard to gauge the outing.

With so many young arms on the way beyond just Thorpe, Wilson will have to show out early to maintain a spot in this rotation past April this season.

These six pitchers may make up the rotation for now, but this rotation could look rather different in a few months from now.

Nick Nastrini struggled as a rookie last season, but has tweaked his arsenal to try and claim a rotation spot at some point. Mason Adams was one of the steadiest arms in the minors and profiles as a back-end starter with elite command.

They won’t arrive until late season at the earliest, but top prospects Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith are on the way sooner than later as well. I’ll have more on that duo of star prospect lefties soon.

It’s not going to be up there with the best by any means, but the starting rotation has a chance to be better than many may think and it should only get better with the arrival and development of young arms.