Drew Thorpe kept building his case Wednesday night, while Kyle Teel and Huascar Brazobán continued their rehab work for Triple-A Charlotte in Gwinnett.
Thorpe, the right-hander who hasn’t pitched in the majors since July 31, 2024, gave the Knights five innings in a 4-2 loss. He allowed two runs on four hits, threw 66 pitches, struck out three and didn’t issue a walk. It was his fourth start for Charlotte and his eighth outing overall on this minor-league rehab assignment.
White Sox manager Will Venable made it clear Thorpe is more than just a rehab arm at this point.
“That crazy wild journey for him and just really happy he’s out there pitching, but for me it’s more than that,” said White Sox manager Will Venable. “Drew is a real option for us as we get through and there are needs. He’ll be considered.
“He’s been good, efficient, bouncing back. That’s the most important thing, that he’s healthy and feeling good and responding well to the outings and the treatment and recovery and all that and also throwing strikes. His stuff is effective.”
Teel stayed in the mix behind the plate, catching Thorpe and going 1-for-3 with a strikeout. He had homered Tuesday night and has now logged 22 at-bats over six games in this rehab stint. Brazobán followed Thorpe with a perfect sixth inning, needing only 11 pitches to do it.
The reliever is working back from a left lat strain, and Venable said the club still needs to see where he stands physically before any bigger picture decision gets made.
“You've got to see where he's at as far as his health,” said Venable of Brazobán, who was sidelined by a left lat strain. “We've got to see where we're at as far as our needs.
“Obviously he's somebody that we acquired and feel really strongly about as part of the formula to help us win games. Most importantly it's just about him getting healthy, getting reps underneath him and being able to recover well."
Teel’s timetable remains unsettled. Venable said there is “Nothing imminent, no date,” and the plan is to keep alternating him between DH and catching so he can keep stacking reps.
"Nothing imminent, no date, just continue to have him kind of bounce back and forth between DH and catching. He's in a good spot, getting some good volume with his at-bats, with the catching and make sure he's really nice and cooked and ready to go when we get him." -- Venable on Teel
Thorpe and Brazobán are both still in the conversation for a September return, while Teel is still working through the rehab process after a high left ankle sprain. He has also dealt with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain and a sprained lateral collateral ligament in his right knee.
Venable also mentioned another possible arm for the stretch run: Shane Smith. The White Sox’s Opening Day starter has shifted to bullpen work with Charlotte, and Venable said he could fit into that mix too.
“I think he's an option,” said Venable. “I was looking at the videos today.
We talked through kind of transitioning to the bullpen and you get the reports every day. He looks really good.
So as we know we're going to need different help down the stretch here that he'll certainly be an option."
In Other News...
White Sox Look Right For Giving Up On This Pitcher Fast
The White Sox did not need much time to decide Jedixson Paez was not going to be part of their pitching picture this spring. Chicago grabbed the right-hander in the Rule 5 draft, gave him a look in camp, and then moved on quickly after he was tagged for six earned runs in three innings during his spring appearances.
Paez was sent back to the Boston Red Sox organization and assigned to Double-A Portland, which only added another layer to a rough stretch for the 23-year-old. Boston later gave him a major league start, and he was hit hard there, too, before being optioned back to Triple-A, a reminder that the White Sox may have been early to bail, but not necessarily wrong. [Read more 🡒]
Will Venable Admitted One White Sox Mistake That Still Stings
A late-inning decision continues to linger for Will Venable, who said he came away wishing he had handled the eighth inning differently after Drew Romo reached a spot where a pinch runner could have changed the calculus. Venable said Romos speed was not the main issue in the moment, but the catchers defensive value weighed into the choice to keep him in the game.
Venable was candid that, with a do-over, he would have sent a pinch runner for Romo. For a White Sox club trying to squeeze every edge out of tight games, it was the kind of call that can stick with a manager because it sits right at the intersection of defense, urgency and the small details that decide whether an inning keeps moving or stops cold. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Could Fast Track A Prospect Fans Need To Watch
The White Sox have several young infield names worth tracking as the minor league season winds down, and the conversation around Caleb Bonemer, Kyle Lodise and Anthony DePino is starting to sound less like long-range dreaming and more like practical development planning. Each has spent 2026 building a case in the system, and the organization has a chance to use the final weeks to push one or more of them into tougher competition rather than letting the year simply fade out at the same level.
For a rebuilding club, those late-season decisions matter. A jump to a higher affiliate can tell the front office a lot about how far a prospect has come and how ready he might be for a bigger role down the road, especially with 2027 in view. Nothing has been finalized yet, but the possibility alone makes this a situation worth watching closely as Chicago looks for the next wave of players who can move quickly when the time comes. [Read more 🡒]