Jarold Rosado’s White Sox story has been a study in extremes.
The right-hander came to Chicago in July 2024 as the return from Kansas City for shortstop Paul DeJong, and for a while it looked like the Sox had landed a real bargain. Rosado had signed with the Royals in February 2020, pitched in the DSL in 2021, then lost the entire 2022 season to injury. When he came back in 2023, the results were rough: 23 walks in 26 innings and a 10.38 ERA with a 5.73 FIP.
Then 2024 happened. At Low-A Columbia before the trade, Rosado put together a 1.85 ERA and 2.53 FIP, saved four games, struck out 45 in 39 innings, and cut his walk rate from 16.7% in 2023 to 7.2%.
The White Sox took notice and sent him to High-A Winston-Salem after the deal, where he kept rolling and even pushed his strikeout rate up to 35.4%. By the end of the year, he had finished with a 2.11 ERA, a 2.51 FIP, 68 strikeouts and 15 walks across 55 1/3 innings.
That performance earned him a bold assignment to Double-A Birmingham to open 2025, and that’s where the wheels came off. Rosado was hit hard over 14 games, posting a 6.61 ERA and 1.898 WHIP while walking more batters than he struck out. He was sent back to Winston-Salem in July, where he steadied himself with a 2.25 ERA and a weak but reasonable strikeout-to-walk ratio, but he closed the year on a sour note in the Arizona Fall League, issuing 13 walks against seven strikeouts.
The pattern repeated in 2026. Rosado started again in Birmingham and was battered to the tune of an 8.49 ERA and 2.229 WHIP, once more struggling to miss bats or throw strikes.
The White Sox moved him back to High-A in August, and he finished on a better note. Over 8 1/3 innings, including the postseason, he didn’t allow a run, gave up just two hits, and walked seven while striking out 11.
He also contributed a scoreless inning in the opener of Winston-Salem’s title run.
Rosado is still fractionally young for High-A, let alone Double-A, but the control problems are impossible to ignore. He has now run into a high-minors ceiling in back-to-back seasons. There’s a slight chance the Sox could give him some High-A runway in April before bumping him up, but the likeliest path is clear: Rosado is headed for a third, and probably final, chance to figure out Double-A this summer.
In Other News...
White Sox Finally Found Real Power But One Big Question Remains
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What still hangs over the offense is whether that power can be woven into a more reliable, cohesive approach rather than appearing in isolated flashes. The White Sox have the raw material now, and even the more unusual swings in the mix have underscored how much more dangerous the lineup can be when it is doing damage in the air. The next step is turning those individual moments into something that holds up over a full season. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Prospect Braxton Bragg Is Making A Strong Case For More
The Arizona Fall League has started to separate the early standouts from the rest of the pack, and Braxton Bragg has put himself squarely in that conversation over the first month. The White Sox prospect has been part of a run of notable performances across the league, where pitchers and hitters alike have been trying to make their case in front of evaluators and front offices before the season winds down.
For Chicago, that matters because the Fall League is often where a player can change the tone of his offseason with one strong stretch. Bragg has done enough to get noticed in a group that also includes some eye-catching work from other prospects, and the White Sox will keep watching closely as the league's leaders continue to sort themselves out. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Prospect George Wolkow Faces One Big Test After Power Surge
George Wolkow is still only 20, but he has already logged three full seasons in pro ball after entering the system early, and the White Sox have reason to keep watching closely. The left-handed hitters power has taken a noticeable step forward, giving the organization a more intriguing look at a player whose raw strength has long been part of the profile.
The question now is how much of that progress is real development and how much is tied to the environment around him. Wolkows strikeout rate remains a concern, so the next phase of his climb is less about the home run total itself and more about whether he can keep the power while making enough contact to matter against better pitching. [Read more 🡒]