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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