The White Sox finally have a little momentum on the injury front, and for a team that has spent much of the season scrambling to piece together a rotation, that matters.
Right-handers Tanner McDougal and Shane Smith already got rehab work in last week in Winston-Salem, and now three more arms are moving closer to game action. Drew Thorpe, Ky Bush and Prelander Berroa - all of whom had Tommy John surgery during 2025 spring training - are trending in the right direction.
Scott Merkin reported on July 4, 2026: “Some injury updates: RHP Drew Thorpe threw a live yesterday
LHP Ky Bush has been participating in long toss
RHP Prelander Berroa will start throwing again in the next 1-2 weeks
INF William Bergolla Jr. started his running progression, he is throwing and hitting normally”
Thorpe is the most intriguing of the group. The White Sox acquired him from the Padres in the Dylan Cease deal in 2024, and he wasted no time making an impression in the minors.
In 11 starts at Double-A Birmingham that year, he put up a 1.35 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 60 innings. Chicago then pushed him straight to the majors, where he made nine starts before an elbow injury ended his season and eventually led to Tommy John surgery.
His big league line - a 5.48 ERA in those nine outings - doesn’t jump off the page, but there was more underneath it. Five of those starts were quality outings, and the source notes that his last two rough appearances may have been tied to the injury.
Thorpe also dealt with a minor setback this spring and later had an appendectomy, which slowed his rehab. Even so, he could still make it back to the big leagues before the end of 2026, and he’s firmly in the picture for the 2027 rotation.
Bush’s path has been slower, but he’s also back on the mound. The left-hander came over from the Angels in the 2023 deal that also brought Edgar Quero to Chicago.
After a 3.30 ERA in 20 minor league appearances, he debuted for the White Sox in August 2024 and struggled over four starts, finishing with a 5.60 ERA and 16 walks in 17.2 innings. He had Tommy John surgery in February 2025 and missed all of that season.
A lat strain during this year’s rehab pushed him back further, but he’s healthy again and working to reestablish himself as a rotation option.
Berroa may be the one who can help the quickest. The hard-throwing righty logged a 3.32 ERA in 17 relief appearances in 2024 and was viewed as a candidate for a bigger late-inning role in 2025 before the injury hit.
He tried to come back earlier this season, but his rehab outing ended after one hitter and he was shut down again. Now he’s set to resume throwing in the next one to two weeks.
Because he’s a reliever, Berroa won’t need nearly as much buildup as the starters. That gives him a shorter road back and a chance to give the White Sox bullpen a boost down the stretch.
If all three rehabs keep moving the right way, Chicago could soon have more depth than it knows what to do with. For a club that’s spent so long patching holes, that would be a welcome change.
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