Chicago

White Sox

Mitchell ambushed the first pitch that he saw from Elvis Peguero, crushing a solo home run to open the third inning. That would be his only hit in three at-bats on the day. He’s off to a rough start overall on the spring, hitting just .227 (5-for-22) with a homer, three RBI and a stolen base. With Andrew Benintendi shelved, the door is open for Mitchell to potentially crack the Opening Day roster, but he’s going to need to pick it up in Cactus League action.

The 29-year-old right-hander has struggled badly with his command this spring, and that was on full display in Thursday’s outing. He came on to start the fifth inning and walked each of the first three hitters that he faced — while also allowing three stolen bases. Jackson Chourio then lined into a sacrifice fly to plate a run. Karinchak battled back to get each of the next two hitters (while allowing his fourth stolen base), but on the whole it was an absolutely brutal outing. He now carries an uninspiring 7.20 ERA, 2.00 WHIP and a 6/5 K/BB ratio over five frames on the spring.

Vargas has been one of the standouts this spring for Chicago, batting .364 (8-for-22) with one homer and three RBI. The 25-year-old former top prospect has struggled to carve out a permanent role at the highest level, but he appears locked in as the White Sox’ starting third baseman to open the year. He doesn’t offer a massive ceiling, but boasts strong plate skills and should reach double digits in the home run and stolen base departments.

White was claimed off waivers last month from the Yankees and will open the regular season back in the minors as extra organizational depth. He should get a look with Chicago at some point in the near future. Nastrini was hit extremely hard in nine appearances (eight starts) last year with the White Sox in his first taste of the big leagues.

Jankowski opted out of his deal with the Cubs after being reassigned to minor league camp. The outfielder will attempt to make the White Sox roster, but will need a strong showing in the Cactus League for that to take place.

Cannon has been hit hard in three spring starts so far, allowing 10 runs on 16 hits, including four home runs, over eight innings of work. He’s locked into a spot in Chicago’s season-opening rotation, but he can be safely avoided in most fantasy leagues given his lack of strikeout upside.

Nastrini had been in the competition for the final spot in Chicago’s rotation, but it looks like the 25-year-old will begin the season in Charlotte’s rotation instead. Nastrini added velocity on his fastball this spring and seemed to show slightly better command than he did when he walked 5.51 batters per nine innings in Triple-A last year. If he can keep those command gains in Charlotte then there’s a chance he gets innings for the White Sox before the summer. His demotion means either Bryse Wilson or Shane Smith will open the season in the rotation.

There had been some hope that Montgomery would break camp as the starting shortstop, but that will not be the case. The 23-year-old battled a back injury and went just 1-for-9 with five strikeouts in spring. Montgomery also had a 28.6 percent strikeout rate in Triple-A last year, so contact ability is a bit of a concern right now. The White Sox will give him a chance to iron things out in Triple-A to start the season, which could leave Jacob Amaya as the frontrunner for the job since he has played the most games at shortstop this spring with seven starts, while Chase Meidroth has started three games at short.

Teel is 4-for-12 with two homers, a double and a 3/3 K/BB, giving him a 1.384 OPS through nine appearances. The White Sox aren’t going to carry him out of spring training, but there’s a good chance he’ll finish 2025 as the team’s starting catcher.

Sosa played first base today. He’s made two starts there, two at second and four at third this spring. The 25-year-old is one of the White Sox’s most interesting bats; his .254/.283/.359 line in 369 plate appearances last season wasn’t anything special, but with a 41 percent hard-hit rate, he had a .278 xBA and a .419 xSLG. He’ll probably turn into a regular for the team at some point, even if it doesn’t happen initially. While he should hit, his fantasy ceiling is capped by his lack of any steal potential and the paucity of runs scored and RBI generated by the White Sox lineup.