Coming off a win in their home opener, the Chicago White Sox look to win two in a row against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Anthony Kay will try to get his first win in five years while pitching for the Chicago White Sox

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The Chicago White Sox have seen some players step up in Spring Training. While the games may not count, the performances do matter as rosters get cut down to see who will be with the team on Opening Day. One pitcher for the team has been opening eyes after pitching overseas for a few seasons. Let’s take a look at one White Sox player who people are buying into his exhibition numbers and expecting him to continue it into the 2026 regular season.

Bleacher Report is buying in on the Chicago White Sox pitcher Anthony Kay’s Spring Training

Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer wrote an article discussing Spring Training performances and which to buy/sell. One White Sox pitcher would pop up in Anthony Kay. Rymer put Kay’s performance on the ‘soft buy’ tier, which is a somewhat optimistic view of him. Kay has pitched in five games (16.1 innings) and has a 2.2o ERA with a 6:15 walk-to-strikeout ratio with less than a hit per inning. Of course, the quality of hitters is different than what he will see in the regular season, but this is impressive nonetheless. Below is what Rymer wrote about Kay’s performance:

“This is basically a continuation of what Kay did in Japan, where he had a 1.74 ERA over 24 appearances for Yokohama. And while his spring performance is light on strikeouts, that isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker. He only fanned 130 batters in 155 innings in 2025, so there was clearly good contact management going on. And so it goes this spring. Batted balls off him have averaged just 87.0 mph, albeit with ground balls on only 16 of 44 balls in play.”

Kay is currently slated to be the team’s third starting pitcher in the rotation for the season, behind Shane Smith and Sean Burke. Kay signed a two-year, $12 million contract in December with the White Sox, so he can be a valuable asset if he continues his hot Spring Training. It will be intriguing to see if he can find his footing in his first MLB season since 2023.

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The Chicago White Sox are hoping the 2026 sees them take another massive step forward in their rebuild. After winning just 41 games in 2024, they won 60 in 2025. And while a 60-102 season is still dismal, the fact of the matter is that they proved they are heading in the right direction.

The 2026 White Sox are going to have growing pains. Such is the case with every team that boasts numerous young players in its lineup. That being said, they also have more talent in their organization than they did even a few months ago, and the future is looking bright in Chicago.

The Chicago White Sox have named their Opening Day starting rotation

Not long ago, the White Sox revealed that 2025 AL All-Star Shane Smith will be their ace and Opening Day starting pitcher. On Tuesday, they announced the rest of their starting rotation:

White Sox manager Will Venable announced the team’s season-opening starting rotation: Shane Smith, Sean Burke, Anthony Kay, Davis Martin and Erick Fedde.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) March 17, 2026

Below are Chicago’s initial five-man starting rotation and their stats from 2025.

Shane Smith

29 starts, 7-8, 3.82 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 145 strikeouts, 146.1 innings

Sean Burke

28 games (22 starts), 4-11, 4.22 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 133 strikeouts, 134.1 innings

Anthony Kay

16 games (zero starts), 0-0, 6.14 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 11 strikeouts, 14.1 innings (pitched for New York Mets and Chicago Cubs)

Davis Martin

26 games (25 starts), 7-10, 4.10 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 104 striketouts, 142.2 innings

Erick Fedde

32 games (24 starts), 4-13, 5.49 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 83 strikeouts, 147.0 innings (pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, and Milwaukee Brewers; also threw a shutout early in 2025 with the Cardinals)

On the surface, this rotation leaves much to be desired. However, it is just the beginning of what is sure to be a starting group filled with young talent as soon as it develops.

Hopefully this group can help the White Sox see another large step forward in 2026.

More Chicago White Sox news from ChiCity Sports

• This White Sox player apparently already made the Opening Day roster
• Hagen Smith threw new pitch in White Sox game 2-3 days after learning it
• WBC: Italy makes last minute starting pitcher swap vs Venezuela

For More Chicago Sports

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The Chicago Cubs have some work to do this offseason.

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First and foremost, they’ll most likely have to find a way to replace an outgoing Kyle Tucker as the four-time All-Star right fielder is expected to move on to a more free-spending team via free agency.

The Cubs will also have to rebuild almost an entire bullpen as six of the eight relievers on their NLDS roster will probably be gone next year via free agency or, in the case of Andrew Kittredge, by rejected team option.

There will need to be some tinkering and fortifying of the starting rotation as well, with several question marks related to health and consistency casting doubt on the entire staff.

Chicago Cubs might look to Japan, Murakami

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With need staring them in the face and an unwillingness to dig deep into their revenue to fill holes at full free agent market value, Cubs president Jed Hoyer and the front office could very well look to Japan for answers this winter.

In the recent past, the Cubs were able to pick up Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki on creative, comparatively team-friendly deals that are right up Chicago’s alley in terms of contract preferences.

The biggest Japanese name available this offseason will be third baseman/first baseman Munetaka Murakami.

The 25-year-old has a wealth of pro ball experience with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows despite his young age. Already an 8-year pro with 265 home runs, the left-handed slugger has consistently been a productive offensive powerhouse.

Despite having arthroscopic elbow surgery and suffering through an oblique injury last season, he still managed to hit 24 home runs in 69 games, with an OPS of 1.051.

Murakami is below-average with the glove at third and just barely adequate at first, but he could be handed the third base gig until eventually replacing a possibly outgoing Suzuki, who is eligible for free agency after next season, at DH. Bringing him aboard would also give the Cubs the opportunity to shop Matt Shaw in a package deal for a controllable front-half-of-rotation starting pitcher.

A high-end Japanese starter to consider

However, if the goal is a front-three starting pitcher, the Cubs could cut the workarounds and go straight at 27-year-old righty Tatsuya Imai.

The nine-year veteran has been one of the top pitching stars in the Japanese league over the last several seasons, posting a sub-2.50 ERA as a starter every year since 2022. Last year, he had a career year with a 1.92 ERA over 24 games and 163.2 innings. Versatile and hard-throwing, Imai is likely to be made available to MLB teams this offseason.

Neither Murakami nor Imai will come cheap, however. Former MLB exec and current MLB insider for The Athletic, Jim Bowden, projects Murakami to bag a 6-year, $160 million contract while Imai is expected to land a deal worth about $154 million over seven years. Both the length of contract as well as the overall payout might rule the Cubs out of the hunt.

Bringing Americans back home?

On the more economical side of a Japanese talent hunt, though, the Cubs might end up pursuing a pair of American pitchers who found success overseas but would like to come back home.

Lefty swing man Anthony Kay was claimed off waivers by the Cubs in 2022, but DFA’d the following year. He eventually found his way to Japan where he re-tooled, refocused, and found success with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars as a starter. Last season, he posted a remarkable 1.74 ERA in 155 innings over 24 starts.

Although the 30-year-old is not a strikeout pitcher by any stretch of the imagination, his groundball rate of greater than 50% makes him a great fit for the Cubs and their stellar infield defense. Perhaps just as important to a bottom line-minded Cubs front office, he might be signed on the cheap to a one-year deal as a way to prove his MLB chops before heading off to free agency once again at the end of 2026. The Cubs have proven themselves to be an ideal spot for a pitcher looking to rehab his reputation.

Similarly, 30-year-old southpaw Foster Griffin may be looking to get back to America after three successful seasons with the Yumiori Giants in Japan. Also a groundball pitcher, the former Kansas City Royals top prospect posted a 1.52 ERA in 89 innings over 17 starts last season. Like Kay, he might also be open to an economical one-year deal as a way to reintroduce himself to the US scene.

For a team seemingly fixated on working around big-money free agent deals, Japan could offer a favorable side market for a couple of 2026 pickups. Time will tell whether the Cubs will once again dip into the Japanese league talent pool.

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The Chicago Cubs walk into the offseason with some pressing issues facing them. The biggest issue, perhaps, is related to pitching.

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To sum it up succinctly, the Cubs are going to need a lot of help in the pitching department. There will be a lot of holes to fill and a lot of reinforcement needed to ensure protection from regression among those who most likely overperformed during the 2024 season.

The bullpen, for example, will need an almost complete overhaul as six of the eight relievers on the NLDS roster may be gone via free agency. This is working under the fair assumption, of course, that the team won’t be ponying up the money to keep bullpen standouts Brad Keller, Drew Pomeranz, and Caleb Thielbar.

The return of Justin Steele to the starting rotation will be a big deal. However, this is assuming that Steele stays healthy and re-finds his groove. The Cubs will also be counting on Matthew Boyd and Cade Horton to not only stay healthy, but to also avoid regression from a tremendous– and perhaps a bit unrealistic– 2025. If all doesn’t go according to plan, there will be a lot of uncertainty in the Cubs rotation. To help mitigate the doubts, they will need to add some more depth this offseason.

With the front office seemingly focused on moving young talent into positions of roster prominence in 2026, it seems unlikely that they would trade a Ballesteros, Caissie, or Wiggins for a high-end impact arm.

Chicago Cubs will dig into the free agent market

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So, any roster reinforcement will have to come via free agency.

And that’s where the Cubs will likely be slipping into their same old bad buying habits.

Rather than go out and flex their major market/major revenue muscles with big, bold purchases, Chicago works around the fringes, looking for bargain buys and cheap rehabilitation projects. This “roll the dice,” mindset has paid dividends on several occasions, notably on Boyd, Keller, Pomeranz, and Thielbar this past season. It could also be argued, however, that it’s kept the team from acquiring any true elite-level impact players and, therefore, put a cap on just how far the team can go.

Early Cubs free agent rumors for 2026 completely fit into the team’s modus operandi and budget-minded ways.

Free agent rumors ring true

Several media outlets have tied former St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley to the Cubs, something which would’ve had Cubs fans salivating back last season, before the 31-year-old was dealt to the Mets at the trade deadline. In New York, in the heat of a failing pennant drive, Helsley was absolutely awful with a 7.20 ERA and poor performance across the board.

His total disintegration at the end of 2025 will reduce his free agent market value, despite a career’s worth of previous success, and maybe put him right into the Cubs’ comfort zone when it comes to a possible short-term contract for a manageable amount of money.

Similarly, Shane Bieber will become a free agent after he tries to help the Toronto Blue Jays get past the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. As recently as the All-Star break, though, it was no sure thing that the two-time All-Star and former Cy Young winner would even be able to pitch again at the major league level as he recovered from UCL surgery in 2024.

The Blue Jays gambled on his ability to come back and acquired him from the Cleveland Guardians at the trade deadline, as he was still rehabbing from his injuries. Bieber has been solid since his return, posting a 3.57 ERA in seven regular season starts and a 4.38 ERA in three postseason appearances.

His recent-recovery status will make teams shy away from offering him a lucrative multi-year contract—something which would be perfect for the Cubs. Jed Hoyer and company could swoop in and sign the 30-year-old to a one-year deal where he could reestablish his status as an elite-arm and then head back into free agency in pursuit of monster money.

Buzz surrounding former Cub Anthony Kay also fits into the Cubs’ free agent mindset.

The left-handed Kay has found incredible success in Japan these past two years after a disappointing 5-year MLB run. His 1.74 ERA for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in 2025 was a franchise record and has reportedly pushed him towards a return to the US.

The 30-year-old has worked as a starter in Japan after reliever status through his MLB career. A one-year deal to showcase his worth as a starter/swing man before pursuing bigger contracts is probably the plan. And the Cubs could be right there to snatch up the ground ball-heavy southpaw at a reasonable price for a single season of service.

The need to change course

Picking up Helsley, Bieber, and/or Kay would not be bad decisions. Picking them up for a relative song with minimal long-term risk would also not be a bad thing. The problem is that the Cubs are always cutting these types of deals, something which comes at the expense of long-term stability and their ability to attract true elite-level impact talent to the team.

The Cubs need to start investing in talent acquisition if they’re truly serious about establishing a winning tradition in Chicago. They need to save the bargain bin shopping for the ancillary pieces, but step up when it comes to main stage players.

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