3 White Sox Storylines to Watch in the Final Week Before Opening Day

The White Sox have a slogan for 2026: "Feel the Momentum." It's a reasonable thing to sell. They won 19 more games in 2025 than they did in 2024. They signed Munetaka Murakami. They have a legitimate Opening Day starter in Shane Smith and a bullpen closer in Seranthony Domínguez who looked electric on the world stage for the Dominican Republic in the WBC. The rebuild, for the first time in a while, looks like it might actually be going somewhere.

But momentum, as the old baseball adage goes, is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher. And with Opening Day in Milwaukee seven days away, a few big questions still need answering at Camelback Ranch. Here are the three storylines that will define the final stretch before the White Sox open their season against the Brewers on March 26.

1. The Rotation Is Set — Now It Has to Deliver

Manager Will Venable made it official on Tuesday: the White Sox will go Shane Smith, Sean Burke, Anthony Kay, Davis Martin, and Erick Fedde to open the season. The order is known. This young offense is expected to produce. What the pitching staff gives back may be the biggest factor in whether the White Sox loss column stays to two digits for the first time in years.

Smith leading this off is the right call and nobody's arguing it. The Rule 5 pick turned All-Star posted a 3.82 ERA over 29 starts in 2025, becoming one of only two players in MLB history to make the All-Star Game the season after being drafted in the Rule 5. He stumbled in the middle portion of last year before finishing strong — a 3.09 ERA over his final 10 starts — and that second-half track record is what earned him this moment. When he takes the mound on March 26, he'll be facing the organization that left him off their 40-man roster.

The most compelling name in this rotation right now is Anthony Kay. The former Cubs and Mets first-round pick spent two years in Japan's NPB after injuries derailed his stateside career, and he's come back throwing 95.4 mph and looking like a different pitcher. Through five spring starts he's carrying a 2.31 ERA, leads the team with 15 strikeouts in 16.1 innings, and has been cutting down on the walk issues that plagued him early. "Ready to go," Kay said of his assignment to close the Milwaukee series. "Tough challenge to start the year with the Brewers. They won a lot of games last year and I think it will be a good challenge." If Kay is who he looks like this spring, this rotation has a legitimate 1-2 punch.

Burke, last year's Opening Day starter, had an inconsistent 2025 and was competing for a roster spot this spring before winning out. Venable's praise was specific and encouraging: he's attacking the zone, the fastball is good, and he's been creative in his approach to getting hitters out. Martin is the reliable veteran innings-eater who led the team in starts-per-game last year. Fedde is the surprise — signed for just $1.5 million in February, he's back with the organization where he posted a 3.11 ERA over 21 starts in 2024, and the Sox are banking on that version of him showing up again.

The questions are real. Kay is re-adjusting to MLB life after two years abroad. Burke needs to cut the mechanical inconsistencies that got him demoted last year. Fedde was a combined 5.22 ERA with the Cardinals and Brewers in 2025 before signing with Chicago again. Davis Martin is a solid No. 4 on a good team and a No. 3 on this one. Burke put it plainly: "Our thing is making sure we give our offense a chance to win." That's honest. The lineup should be good enough to score runs. The rotation just has to not give them all back.

2. Murakami Is Back — and He Feels Better Than When He Left

He was gone for nearly three weeks. Japan lost to Venezuela in the WBC quarterfinals on March 14, Murakami flew back to Arizona on Sunday, and by Tuesday he was in the lineup against the Athletics. First at-bat: 1-2 count, 96.6 mph fastball, solo shot to center field. "It was perfect," he said through his translator afterward. "Just perfect."

The WBC itself was a mixed bag — he went 4-for-19 with a .654 OPS in five games, including a grand slam against the Czech Republic in pool play, but he was quieter than expected as Japan bowed out in the quarterfinals. None of that seems to be affecting his mindset. "Compared to when I left Arizona, I feel much better as far as conditioning," he said. "I'm seeing the ball better, I'm swinging better, so I'll keep that approach up and try to hit as much as possible."

What's been as compelling as the on-field stuff is the off-field integration. He arrived at camp in February a stranger in a new country with a new organization, and three weeks away didn't slow the process down. When he came back to the clubhouse, he picked a Japanese hip-hop song on the speaker while his teammates were already playing music — Sean Burke had the iPad and passed it to Murakami's translator Kenzo Yagi. Murakami selected a track, and the whole clubhouse heard it while he mouthed the words on his way out the door. Colson Montgomery, speaking to the Tribune, noted that Murakami has been learning English fast enough that they've been having casual conversations without a translator. "He's teaching us some words," Montgomery said. "He's a great addition."

The on-field stakes are obvious. Josh Barfield described power as "a missing component for the last couple of years" when Murakami signed in December — the Sox are counting on him to provide the middle-of-the-lineup thump that their young core has been missing. With Kyle Teel on the Opening Day IL and the catcher situation still being sorted, Murakami at cleanup is going to carry a lot of weight in these first weeks. The fact that he came back swinging and said he feels better than before he left is about the best thing the Sox could have asked to hear.

3. Mike Vasil's Tommy John Changes the Bullpen Math

The White Sox spent the offseason building a real bullpen. Seranthony Domínguez was signed as the closer. Jordan Hicks was acquired for high-leverage depth. The young arms — Grant Taylor, Jordan Leasure — were coming back. And Mike Vasil, who had been one of the most durable and dependable relievers in baseball last season, was being stretched out as a potential rotation candidate. Then last Tuesday he exited a start against the Dodgers with right elbow soreness in the fourth inning. "Something just didn't feel right," he said afterward.

By Tuesday of this week, the diagnosis was confirmed: Tommy John surgery, timeline 12-18 months, performed by Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington. Vasil will miss the entire 2026 season.

It's a real loss, and not just in terms of innings. In 2025, Vasil was one of five Sox pitchers to throw 100 or more innings. He posted a 2.50 ERA over 47 appearances, racking up 82 strikeouts and a 1.25 WHIP — the kind of multi-inning reliever who quietly holds a young bullpen together through the fifth and sixth innings while the big arms are being saved. The Sun-Times described him as "a connector" whose personality permeates the clubhouse. Both descriptions are accurate, and both represent real holes to fill.

The bullpen math now relies more heavily on Sean Newcomb — who moved to the pen when his rotation bid fell short — and Chris Murphy, who entered camp with a shot at the rotation and will now be counted on for innings relief. The Rule 5 picks, Jedixson Paez and Alexander Alberto, have a clearer path to Opening Day rosters with Vasil gone. Hicks is still a wildcard; Venable has said he can envision Hicks seeing some starts, which would give the bullpen some rotation depth cover if one of the five starters stumbles early.

The Domínguez-anchored late innings are still intact. The concern is the bridge to get there. Vasil was that bridge.

Also Worth Noting Before Opening Day

Braden Montgomery was reassigned to minor league camp on March 15, but not before leaving an impression that Venable was not shy about. "He had an outstanding camp," Venable said. The No. 1 prospect in the White Sox system hit a home run and a triple in Cactus League action and looked every bit the part. He's not an Opening Day option — the organization is focused on his long-term development — but if the outfield picture gets complicated at any point this summer, the question of his call-up timeline will come up fast.

Hagen Smith, the No. 4 prospect in the system, had his best spring outing against the Royals: 5 strikeouts in 2 hitless innings. "I feel really good, I was a lot better than I was last year at this time," he said. Smith, Noah Schultz, and Tanner McDougal represent a wave of young pitching the organization is banking on for mid-season impact if the rotation needs reinforcement. The infrastructure for a genuine pitching surge is there. It's just a matter of when.

And Korey Lee has been quietly excellent since Teel went down. He's posted a 1.452 OPS over the past week with a .923 SLG and two home runs, which is not what you expect from a defensive-first backup catcher. In a season where the plan always was to eventually get both Teel and Quero in the lineup together, Lee's hot bat means the Sox won't be caught flat-footed while they wait for Teel to get healthy.

Seven days. The White Sox open in Milwaukee, in front of an organization that once left Shane Smith off their 40-man roster, with a roster that is genuinely more interesting than anything they've put on the field in years. The rotation is the open question. The offense has the pieces. If the pitching can hold its end of the bargain even part of the time, "Feel the Momentum" stops being a slogan and starts being a description.