The White Sox and their pitching department sure do like their left-handed arms.
The club announced this morning that they are signing LHP Sean Newcomb to a one-year, $4.5M contract and designated LHP Ryan Rolison to make room for Newcomb on the 40-man roster. Newcomb marks the third left-handed pitcher the White Sox have brought into the fold this offseason, following Chris Murphy (Trade – BOS) and Anthony Kay (Free Agent).
While he was arguably the best left-handed reliever left on the free agent market, Newcomb will reportedly also get at least a chance to be a starter with the White Sox. The 32-year-old hasn’t seen consistent starts in the major leagues since 2018, when he was 12-9 with a 3.90 ERA in 30 starts (31 appearances). Last season with the Athletics and Red Sox, Newcomb had his best season to date – albeit out of the bullpen – with a 2.73 ERA and 1.7 fWAR in 48 appearances and 92.1 innings. Among left-handed relievers, he ranked fifth in the major leagues in ERA and tied for seventh in innings pitched. After June 18 last season, he had just a 1.15 ERA.
Newcomb features a six-pitch mix, with a four-seam, slurve, sinker, and cutter serving as the main parts of his repertoire. His success last season came from limiting barrels (87th percentile Barrel %) while getting ground balls at a 47.5% rate due to the reintroduction of a cutter to his arsenal and the increased use of his sinker. Much like the Anthony Kay signing, Newcomb will put the infield defense to the test, as he ranked just league-average with a 23.3 K%.
Current projections would have the White Sox’ staff looking something like this:
- Starters: Shane Smith, Anthony Kay, Sean Burke, Davis Martin, Jonathan Cannon
- Relievers: Jordan Leasure, Grant Taylor, Sean Newcomb, Jedixson Paez, Alexander Alberto, Mike Vasil, Chris Murphy, Wikelman Gonzalez
Once Drew Thorpe returns from rehab for his Tommy John Surgery, he could factor into the starters’ plans at some point during the season. Ky Bush (Tommy John Surgery), Prelander Berroa (Tommy John Surgery), and Tanner McDougal are among those names who could also make an impact at some point later this season, with McDougal the closest due to both health and 2025 performance considerations.
This signing also leaves some question marks as to what the White Sox do with other left-handers currently on the 40-man roster, notably Tyler Gilbert, Brandon Eisert, and Bryan Hudson, all three of whom saw action with the White Sox in 2026. Only Eisert has remaining option years (two), meaning Gilbert and Hudson are likely on the outside looking in unless the team also chooses to use Chris Murphy’s last option year to make room for one of them in the organization.
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