The White Sox went shopping for bullpen help at the deadline, and the name they brought back was supposed to check a major box. Huascar Brazoban came over from the Mets to give Chicago another high-leverage right-hander alongside Grant Taylor and Jordan Hicks. A couple of weeks later, the early returns have been rough enough to make the move look shaky.
Before the trade, Brazoban was in the middle of the best stretch of his career. In 46 outings with the Mets, the 36-year-old posted a 2.56 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP, holding opponents to a .166 batting average while leaning on a sinker-changeup mix that kept the ball on the ground and the contact soft. The profile was exactly what the White Sox were after.
Since landing in Chicago, though, the results have gone the other way fast. Brazoban has made eight appearances for the White Sox and given up five earned runs in 7.1 innings, which leaves him with a 6.14 ERA.
He has walked as many hitters as he has struck out, and opponents are hitting .308 against him. The sample is still small, but the version of Brazoban the White Sox have gotten so far has been much less precise, with too many pitches ending up in the middle of the zone.
That doesn’t make the trade a lost cause. Eight outings hardly settle anything, and Chicago didn’t give up much prospect capital to get him.
Brazoban is also under team control for three more seasons, so there’s still plenty of runway here. But the early struggles are enough to put a little pressure on the deal.
The player on the other side of the swap is worth watching too. Right-hander Gabe Davis has made two starts for the Mets’ Double-A affiliate and has allowed three earned runs over 6.1 innings. He had trouble at Double-A with the White Sox as well, and his development will be the real measuring stick for how this trade ages.
For now, the White Sox bullpen remains a huge piece of the puzzle. It has been used more than any other unit in baseball during 2026, and with the rotation still uncertain, Chicago needs Brazoban to settle in and become the pitcher it believed it was getting.
If this is just a rough patch, the trade can still work. If not, the warning signs are already there.
In Other News...
Huascar Brazobn Is Already Giving The White Sox A Bullpen Problem
The White Soxs latest roster shuffle brought in four fresh names, but not every addition came with the same sense of clarity. Luis Castillo, Brenton Doyle and Joey Bart each seem to fit a role or at least a path to one, while Huascar Brazobn has already complicated things in the bullpen. Chicago was intrigued enough to bring him aboard, but the early returns have not matched the relief profile he built with the Mets.
Brazobns results in Chicago have looked a lot shakier than the version the White Sox were hoping to get, with the kind of inconsistency that can turn a low-key bullpen move into a real roster question. The larger concern is whether this is just a rough stretch or the start of a familiar seasonal slide, because if the struggle keeps going, Chicago has the flexibility to make a move and reset the situation before it becomes a bigger problem. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Starter's Early Exit Changed Everything Against The White Sox
Kevin Gausmans afternoon against the White Sox took a strange turn once his command started to wobble, and the Cubs were suddenly forced to navigate the rest of the game without the starter they had planned around. What had been a routine division matchup shifted when Gausman began dealing with discomfort, and the ripple effect was immediate for both the Cubs and the White Sox on a day that had already been moving at a tense pace.
The injury was traced to a cramp that affected his glove hand, something the Cubs and Gausman later explained after he was unable to keep going at full capacity. The issue surfaced during the middle innings and lingered long enough to alter the shape of the outing, leaving Chicago to piece together the rest of the game while wondering how much the early departure changed the outcome. [Read more 🡒]
Two White Sox Players Just Added Fuel To A Cubs MVP Debate
Pete Crow-Armstrong has become one of the louder names in the National League MVP conversation, and the debate only got a little more interesting when ESPNs Jesse Rogers checked in with players around the game. In Rogers sample, 15 of 21 players backed the Cubs outfielder over Shohei Ohtani, a sign of how much traction Crow-Armstrongs season has gained even with a superstar like Ohtani sitting on the other side of the argument.
Among the voices Rogers gathered were two from across town, White Sox pitcher Sean Burke and catcher Drew Romo, who both landed on Ohtani. Their reasoning pointed back to the two-way impact Ohtani brought earlier in the season, a reminder that the MVP race is not being judged only by what has happened lately at the plate. Crow-Armstrongs recent offensive push has kept the Cubs firmly in the conversation, but the split among players shows just how much weight Ohtanis unique season still carries. [Read more 🡒]