The White Sox have surprised everyone this season, as they are one of the best teams in baseball and have scored the most runs in the American League. This is a stark contrast from the past good White Sox teams, as the pitching typically carried the offense.
While the offense has been doing most of the grunt work this year, the starting pitching will need to step up if the White Sox don’t want to fade as we get into the home stretch of the season. One simple solution is sitting right in front of the White Sox front office, as calling up Drew Thorpe should add some stability and consistency to a rotation that desperately needs it.
Thorpe hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since mid 2024, as he has battled Tommy John surgery and a litany of other injuries that have kept him from returning sooner. However, he is back on the mound and has looked very good in his rehab outings.
So far, Thorpe has thrown 26 innings, striking out 28 en route to a very good 3.04 ERA. He has a solid 1.09 WHIP and has only walked 8 batters. This is very impressive after not pitching for almost 2 years.
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Drew Thorpe in AAA tonight.
5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Sat mostly in the 91-93 MPH range with his fastball, touched 94. pic.twitter.com/GF0cYkA5lA
— Mike (@ChiSoxFanMike) August 20, 2026
The most important thing to note is that Thorpe has been able to get up to 5 innings in his starts and has been creeping up on 90 pitches per start. This is key, as he will need to eat innings when he gets called up and he can do just that.
Thorpe was a former top-100 prospect for a reason and was traded for Juan Soto and Dylan Cease in the same off-season. He has all the talent in the world and the White Sox need to unleash him down the stretch. Outside of a few blow up starts, he was a quality start machine in 2024, and that is much needed on the Southside.
On September 1st, the rosters will expand to 28 players. That will allow the White Sox to call up one hitter and one pitcher. With Davis Martin expected back shortly, I would expect the White Sox to clear another roster spot for Thorpe, as they need another pitcher in the rotation that can keep the White Sox in the game for 5-6 innings.
While Thorpe isn’t going to overpower many hitters, he gets soft contact and can get outs. White Sox fans saw it in 2024, as when he was on, he was elite. More often than not, when Thorpe is on, the White Sox will have a good chance to win the game, and that is exactly what they need to put away Cleveland and win the division.
