Chicago Cubs Pitcher Ryan Rolison Could Make White Sox Regret Their Decision
The Chicago White Sox decided to designate left-handed pitcher Ryan Rolison for assignment in December to make room for Sean Newcomb and now the former first round pick is in the mix to steal an Opening Day roster spot for the Chicago Cubs. The White Sox tried to sneak the left-hander through waivers, but the Cubs scooped him up and Rolison could make the South Side regret its decision a lot sooner than anyone thought.
Rolison bounced around this past offseason as he was first designated for assignment by the Colorado Rockies, the team that selected him in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft, 22nd overall. He was briefly with the Atlanta Braves, who acquired him for cash in a trade with the Rockies and then the White Sox grabbed him off waivers the very next day. Yet, when the White Sox came to an agreement with Newcomb they needed to make room on the 40-man roster and they decided to DFA Rolison, once again leaving the lefty up for grabs on the waiver wire.
The Cubs have done a pretty good job of uncovering diamonds in the rough in recent years both signing under the radar pitchers to minor league deals or like Rolison, getting them off waivers. The Cubs had several open 40-man spots this offseason and a guy with first-round talent certainly caught their attention.
Rolison, 28, only has 42.1 innings pitched in MLB, all coming in 2025 with the Rockies. It was a pretty rough rookie year for him as Rolison posted a 7.02 ERA in 31 appearances.
However, the lefty has seemingly found new life with the Cubs and Craig Counsell is loving what he’s seeing from his new reliever. Rolison made his second appearance for the Cubs in spring training on Friday against the Cleveland Guardians. The left-hander allowed one hit in his scoreless inning of work, but Rolison once again showed an increase of velocity compared to his 2025 debut season in the majors.
In 2025, Rolison’s fastball averaged 92.8 mph with the Rockies. In his spring training debut the lefty averaged 95.7 mph and on Friday maintained the higher velocity coming in at 95.5 mph.
The Cubs’ bullpen is pretty much set heading into the 2026 regular season if there aren’t any unexpected injuries during the next four weeks. The team re-signed veteran Caleb Thielbar and added fellow left-hander Hoby Milner in the offseason, giving Counsell a pair of lefties to utilize out of the bullpen.
There’s only one spot up for grabs out of spring training and while he’d represent a third left-handed reliever in the Cubs’ bullpen it sounds like Rolison is very much in the competition for the final spot on the pitching staff.
Velocity isn’t always everything for a pitcher. You still need to have the ability to miss barrels and throw strikes. That being said, the extra ticks on the radar gun may be able to elevate Rolison’s game to the next level. Last year the Cubs had an impressive turnaround with Brad Keller, who increased his fastball velocity by 3.5 mph.
Although Rolison’s fastball isn’t clocking in at Keller’s level he does feature similar movement to another successful Cubs pitcher in Justin Steele.
Now, it is only Feb. 27, and we’re talking about two spring training innings for Rolison, but he is definitely on the team’s radar. At the very least, he might be one of the first pitchers called up from Triple-A in the regular season if he doesn’t break camp with the Cubs.
Still, keep Ryan Rolison’s name in mind. He might really make the White Sox regret their decision to cut him loose.