The White Sox enter the second half in a place almost nobody expected, tied for first in the AL Central and heading to Toronto with a real shot at the division. A lot of that has come from young players carrying more than their share, but if Chicago is going to keep this run going, it needs a few key names to steady themselves after uneven first-half stretches.
Seranthony Dominguez was supposed to give the White Sox something they’ve badly lacked: a true closer. Chicago signed him in January to a two-year, $20 million deal with that role in mind, betting on the kind of late-inning stuff that can shut down games.
Instead, the first half turned messy. Dominguez goes into the break with a 4.41 ERA and five blown saves, and while opponents are hitting only .202 against him, the walks and missed execution have cost him in the biggest spots.
The White Sox have already used eight different pitchers for saves, which tells you how unsettled the back end has been. If Dominguez can settle in and become a dependable late-inning arm, even if he isn’t the closer, that would bring some much-needed stability to the relief corps.
Kyle Teel’s season has also been a grind, even if the context matters. He missed more than two months to start the year after a preseason hamstring injury and then a separate knee injury during rehab, and the White Sox got almost nothing from the catcher spot while he was out.
His return in June was supposed to give the lineup a jolt. So far, it’s been better than what Chicago got from Edgar Quero and Drew Romo, but not nearly the impact the team was hoping for.
Teel is hitting .204 with an OBP under .300 and a .628 OPS, along with a strikeout rate north of 35%. Defensively, the numbers have been rough too, with -5 blocks above average in just 16 games, one of the worst marks in baseball.
There’s plenty of reason to expect some rust after that much missed time, but the White Sox need a stronger second half from him if they want the catcher position to become a real asset.
And then there’s Davis Martin, who is the odd name in this group because he’s already been one of Chicago’s best arms. He leads all White Sox pitchers in fWAR and just missed the All-Star team, so this isn’t about wiping away what he’s done.
It’s about what’s happened lately. Since June 1, Martin has slipped, and he arrived at the break on the back of two rough outings.
He posted a 5.68 ERA in five June starts and has an 8.59 ERA so far in July. With the White Sox pitching staff still looking like the biggest question mark on the roster, they need Martin to be more than just good on paper.
He may not get all the way back to the dominant version they saw in April, but Chicago needs him to help steady a staff that could use every bit of help it can get.
In Other News...
White Sox Suddenly Have A Second Half Pitching Decision Fans Know Too Well
The White Sox have spent much of this season leaning into the future, and the next wave of pitching help could be the most important one yet. After already giving several prospects a look, the club enters the second half with a 50-45 record and a familiar question hovering over the staff: when is the right time to push more young arms into the mix?
Noah Schultz, Hagen Smith, Tanner McDougal and Mason Adams all sit in the conversation as the organization weighs its next move, each bringing a different mix of upside, health and readiness. For a team still trying to protect its postseason position, the decision is less about whether help is coming and more about how aggressively the White Sox want to chase it. [Read more 🡒]
Why White Sox Fans Are Suddenly Debating Their New Top Prospect
The 2026 MLB Draft in Philadelphia gave the White Sox a new centerpiece when they took UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with the No. 1 overall pick, and that alone was enough to spark an easy conversation about where he fits in the organizations future. In a lot of systems, a top pick instantly becomes the name everyone circles as the clubs best prospect, but that is not always how these lists shake out, especially when a team already has premium young talent in the pipeline.
For Chicago, the timing is what makes the debate interesting. Noah Schultz has already moved past the rookie threshold, and Braden Montgomery is close enough to his own limit that the path is opening for Cholowsky to rise to the top of the White Sox prospect board. That does not make the discussion any less lively, because the question now is less about whether Cholowsky belongs near the top and more about how quickly he can claim the No. 1 spot for himself. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Can't Delay These Three Roster Decisions Any Longer
The White Sox are at the point in the second half where the margins on the roster matter more than the long-term patience that shaped the first half. With the bullpen still looking for another arm and the everyday lineup not getting enough from the bottom of the order, the front office has a few obvious places to start if it wants to squeeze more value out of the current group.
One of the cleaner ideas is a look at Tanner McDougal, whose right-handed relief profile could give the bullpen a needed lift without forcing a bigger shuffle. The other pressure points are less tidy, especially behind the plate and in the outfield, where the club has to decide whether to keep waiting on struggling players or turn to internal options already sitting in the system. [Read more 🡒]