That pesky groundhog may have predicted six more weeks of winter, but baseball fans know that Spring Training marks the official start of the season. Pitchers and catchers from across MLB will report to Arizona and Florida on February 10, with the first games kicking off ten days later. Among the 62 players reporting to Camelback Ranch in Glendale, which White Sox players are worth extra attention?
In an effort to secure a spot in the Sox starting rotation, Cannon must come out of the gate strong. His midseason lapse in performance last year (22 earned runs, seven home runs and 14 walks in seven games between July and August) saw him spend most of August and September in Triple-A. There he struggled even more. The slight dip in velocity in his field arsenal, along with control challenges in 2025, yielded a 5.82 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and -0.6 WAR.
Davis Martin, Sean Burke and Shane Smith have likely secured three spots in the rotation. Ky Bush and Drew Thorpe could easily lock down the latter two, with a sixth swingman role going to Cannon or newcomer Anthony Kay. Although nothing has been finalized yet, Cannon faces an uphill battle.
All eyes will undoubtedly be on Chicago’s biggest free agent acquisition this offseason, but Sox fans shouldn’t just be looking for a home run. His high strikeout rate with the Yakult Swallows, which has hovered around 28.5% over the past three years, and his struggles with offspeed pitches can result in a slow spring. Murakami also has to get used to pitching at high speed. NPB pitchers have added velocity over the years but still lag behind the MLB average of 94.2-94.4 mph, according to Baseball savant.
In a relaxed environment where pitchers experiment with new types of pitches, Spring Training is the perfect place for Murakami to get introduced to MLB pitching. The 26-year-old already has the starting spot at first base, but he needs to show he can hold his own at the plate.
The younger brother of Ronald Acuña Jr. has a chance to steal center field from Brooks Baldwin. After a strong Venezuelan Winter League season with 40 hits, eight home runs and 26 walks in 39 games, Acuña set a record by hitting four home runs in one game. Even with such a small sample size, that’s impressive.
The battle between two bench players for a position that has been up for grabs since September will be entertaining to watch. Although he played less than half of his winter games in the outfield, his 60-grade speed and defensive versatility make him a confident decision-maker and accurate fielder well suited to center.
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