The Chicago White Sox are sitting in first place in the AL Central with a 55-49 record, and that’s not something anyone saw coming two months ago. Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery have given this lineup real teeth, and the division is bad enough that the White Sox have a legitimate shot at staying on top. But here’s the thing about being a division leader when you don’t have the pitching to back it up: October is going to expose you fast.
Right now the White Sox rotation is basically Sean Burke and Davis Martin, then a whole lot of question marks. Burke has been excellent — 7-5 with a 3.19 ERA, 130 strikeouts in 118.1 innings. Martin has been reliable if unspectacular at 9-5 with a 3.49 ERA. After those two, it gets messy. Anthony Kay has a 4.21 ERA and has hit 19 batters, which is the most in the league. Erick Fedde sits at 4.25 with 19 home runs allowed. And Noah Schultz, the 22-year-old who the front office hoped would develop quickly, has a 6.04 ERA and can’t find the zone consistently.
General manager Chris Getz knows he has to add at least one starting pitcher before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Maybe two. The question is who’s actually available and what the White Sox are willing to give up.
Detmers makes sense if the price is right
Reid Detmers is having a weird season on a terrible Angels team. His record is 3-7, but the Angels might have the worst record in the American League, so that’s not exactly his fault. Detmers has 136 strikeouts in 120 innings with a 4.05 ERA, and he’s only 27 years old. He’s got two more years of team control before free agency in 2029, which means he’s not just a rental. For a White Sox team that needs stability beyond this season, that matters.
The Tigers are still deciding what to do with Tarik Skubal, but even if they make him available, the asking price is going to be massive. Detroit is not going to hand their ace to a division rival without bleeding them dry. The White Sox probably aren’t the team that gets that deal done.
Joe Ryan could be the real target
Joe Ryan has been floated as a trade candidate for weeks now, and nothing about that has changed. The Twins right-hander is a two-time All-Star with a 3.38 ERA this season across 21 starts. He’s struck out 131 batters in 114.1 innings. Yes, his last start against the Guardians was a disaster — 10 hits and 8 earned runs in 4 innings, six home runs allowed — but that’s an outlier. He beat the Yankees and Angels in his two starts before that.
Ryan went 13-10 last year with a 3.42 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 171 innings. He’s consistently made big pitches in tight spots. The Twins reportedly asked for too much in return last season and held onto him. Now they might be more realistic, especially with the White Sox needing to make a move and the division race tightening up.
The White Sox have a 2.5-game lead over the Guardians, who just got swept by the Rays and lost five straight. That lead is not as comfortable as it looks. Cleveland is expected to bounce back, and Chicago’s rotation isn’t deep enough to hold up over the final two months without help. Getz has to pull the trigger on something. Whether it’s Detmers, Ryan, or somebody else, standing still isn’t an option.
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