Will Venable taking his sweet time assembling White Sox' pitching staff
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — White Sox manager Will Venable knows more than anyone that it’s high time for him and his staff to make some sense out of their pitching staff with less than three weeks to go until Opening Day at Milwaukee on March 26.
Right now, he has a closer — Seranthony Dominguez — but no Opening Day starter and nothing in between. Shane Smith, Anthony Kay, Sean Newcomb, Sean Burke and Davis Martin have made the most of their recent starts. Four others are being stretched out just in case.
It’s a process story, and Venable has been asked almost every day where he is in that process.
“We’re two days closer than the last time you asked,” he said, perhaps a bit sarcastically.
But come on, there has to be a list, some kind of pecking order in evaluating these pitchers.
“That is a good point and that part of it is real,” Venable explained. “We have a number of guys who are in competition for a starting rotation job. At some point we need to give them some information so they can adjust their routines and gear toward long relief roles or whatever they might be doing.
“It’s coming here soon. But there are still tough decisions we have to make.”
Those decisions couldn’t come too soon. Right now, the potential starters have been rolling with it, but the point of no return is quickly approaching. Plus, there’s nothing to say that changes couldn’t be made in April after the rush toward Opening Day.
Burke said Thursday night after a hiccup start against the Guardians he feels secure in his bid for a starting rotation berth.
He allowed four runs on four hits to the first six batters he faced: Angel Martinez, Brayan Rocchio and George Valera opened with a trio of doubles. With two out, CJ Kayfus hit a two-run homer. After the rough start, he resettled and retired seven of the last eight through three innings.
At this point, it’s not what you really want.
“I believe I should be in the starting rotation,” Burke said. “I learned a lot last year from the ups and downs I went through. Working with the new coaches and talking through some stuff, I feel super confident going into the year.”
To be fair, it’s not as if the Sox have a marquee starter. They haven’t had one since Garrett Crochet was traded to Boston after Chicago’s record 121-loss 2024 season. Bud Black, who influenced Venable during their days as manager and player in the Padres organization, said Friday he has one way of building a pitching staff.
“Get a No. 1 starter — an ace — and a premium closer,” Black, also a fair major-league pitcher and pitching coach in his own right, said in response to a text message. “Then fill in from there.”
“Yeah, that sounds good to me,” Venable said.
The Sox aren’t there yet, but Smith could be the ace.
Smith, Davis and Burke made a combined 76 starts for the White Sox last year. They were 18-29. Kay played in Japan for the past three seasons, going 9-6 with a 1.74 ERA in 24 starts last season for Yokohama.
He signed a two-year contract with Chicago during the offseason that guarantees him $12 million, is loaded with performance bonuses and has a mutual $10 million option for 2028 with a $2 million buyout.
Newcomb pitched out of the bullpen last year for the Athletics, is 33 and hasn’t started regularly since his first two seasons with Atlanta.
It’s a staff without substance and texture.
“That’s a big thing for us: not to care about what people are thinking outside of this clubhouse,” Martin said. “Face it, our staff is going to look different, than like say, the Dodgers. It’s not going to be as much copy and paste like other organizations because of where we’re at.”
But it shouldn’t be worse than, say, the Rockies for that matter, either. Watch this space.