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Jonathan Cannon talks the early stages of the White Sox season: 'It's time to go win games'
The White Sox have higher expectations in 2026 after improvement in 2025. Pitcher Jonathan Cannon verbalized what those expectations are as he tries to earn a place on the pitching rotation.
The Chicago White Sox left 2025 in the rearview mirror.
There were plenty of bright spots, like the emergence of Shane Smith, Mike Vasil, Chase Meidroth, Colson Montgomery and more of the team’s young prospects.
"We’re going to let them know how proud of the group we are," Venable said.
But, that’s all in 2025.
The White Sox coaches and leadership are making it known that those developments won’t earn players spots in the 2026 season.
"We have to start at zero," Will Venable said.
That doesn't mean the Sox enter this season and Spring Training without established expectations. It’s time for the team to win games.
"We got a couple of seasons under our belt," Sox pitcher Jonathan Cannon said. "It’s time to go out there and win some ball games."
Big picture view:
The Sox have plenty of questions to face in Arizona.
When will we see Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz? Will Braden Montgomery make his MLB debut? Will either Edgar Quero or Kyle Teel be moved from catcher?
"We’ve got to work through Spring Training," Getz said. "A lot of things can happen."
Quero and Teel provide an interesting conundrum.
Both have bats good enough that the Sox could use both of them in the daily lineup. But, the White Sox can only play one catcher at a time.
One of them could be moved into the outfield, like the Chicago Cubs did with Kyle Schwarber in 2016 when Willson Contreras emerged as the daily starter behind the plate. Getz sees this as a good problem to have.
"We’re fortunate to have a plethora of catchers that we feel are Major League capable and can be impactful," Getz said. "We feel like we’ve developed a strength in that area, but we haven’t determined how we’re going to utilize the 26-man roster quite yet."
The Sox also need to manage their rotation.
The future isn’t quite there yet, as Schultz and Hagen are still working their way into the majors. But, Ky Bush and Drew Thorpe will be on the back end of their recovery from their respective Tommy John surgeries.
With Cannon, Smith, Vasil, Sean Burke and Davis Martin competing with free agent additions Sean Newcomb and Anthony Kay, there should be a deeper rotation for the White Sox in 2026 as they look to incorporate Thorpe, Bush, Schultz and Hagen at some point this season.
"We’ve got a young group of pitchers that it’s a heavy load to get through a full season," Getz said. "It gives us a little bit more flexibility when you’ve got some arms that come into an organization that have done it before."
What's next:
This is a roster that Getz has pieced together, knowing there will be more prospects that could put their stamp on the franchise. Braden Montgomery is one of those players, but Luisangel Acuña and Curtis Mead could also do the same.
The roster is deeper than it has been, and that’s point of emphasis.
"We’ve been able to bring in a fair amount of depth, created some depth," Getz said. "Whether it be guys that are coming back here, some outside additions through trade, some free agents."
More moves might come, too.
As the Sox discern the lineup that works for this young core, they could find players that fit around them. They could also add competition to stoke the competitive fires in spring training. It’s not official, but the White Sox are most likely bringing back Erick Fedde. In 2024, Fedde overachieved as a free agent signing before the Sox traded him to St. Louis.
The best part of the team so far has been the camaraderie.
The young players the front office acquired are exciting to watch. Those young players have been in the system together for multiple years now.
This offseason was proof of how close the team is. Cannon said they all kept up in the offseason and the players that lived close to each other – Cannon referenced the Sox players who lived in the Nashville area – got a chance to grow closer.
"This is just a great unit," Cannon said.