📢 TOP STORY: Stability at the End, Uncertainty Everywhere Else—Inside the White Sox Opening Day Bullpen ⚡.DD

For three straight seasons, the Chicago White Sox lost 100 games.
They didn’t just struggle—they unraveled late.

World Series – Los Angeles Dodgers v Toronto Blue Jays – Game 6 | Daniel Shirey/GettyImages

Now, with spring training approaching, the organization has finally addressed the most visible symptom of that unraveling: the ninth inning.

The signing of Seranthony Domínguez gives the White Sox something they haven’t had since Liam Hendriks—a closer whose role doesn’t need to be explained. A two-year deal signals intent, clarity, and at least one area where questions stop before they start.

Everything else in the bullpen? Still very much in motion.

Chicago’s relief corps finished 2025 with a 4.16 ERA, middle-of-the-pack on paper but wildly inconsistent in practice. Jordan Leasure led the team with just seven saves. Games slipped away slowly, then all at once. The bullpen wasn’t broken—it was unreliable.

Domínguez changes that tone immediately.

Assuming health, the White Sox are expected to carry eight relievers on Opening Day. Five of those spots feel close to locked.

Domínguez headlines the group, supported by Grant Taylor and Leasure as primary late-inning options. Taylor emerged as a legitimate breakout arm in 2025, while Leasure’s role stabilizes naturally as he slides away from closing duties.

Mike Vasil is another near-certainty. His 2.50 ERA across 100 innings last season came with flexibility—multi-inning outings, leverage spots, and damage control. He doesn’t have a label, which is exactly why he fits.

Sean Newcomb rounds out the likely core, even if his path there is indirect. Though he’ll reportedly get a look as a starter, the numbers point elsewhere.

A 1.75 ERA in 36 relief appearances late last season, paired with limited workload history, suggests his best value remains in the bullpen.

If Chicago adds another starter before Opening Day—as expected—Newcomb’s transition feels inevitable.

That leaves three spots, and that’s where things get complicated.

The White Sox have leaned toward carrying three left-handers, and assuming Newcomb occupies one slot, two more remain. Tyler Gilbert and Brandon Eisert both logged meaningful innings last year, with Gilbert producing stronger results.

Ryan Borucki offers a ground-ball-heavy profile. Chris Murphy intrigued the front office enough to warrant a November trade. Bryan Hudson, meanwhile, is just one season removed from a dominant 2024 before regressing in 2025.

Talent alone won’t decide this. Options will.

Eisert and Murphy can be sent down. Borucki’s minor league deal allows flexibility. That reality tilts the decision toward Gilbert and Hudson, even if it isn’t the most exciting outcome. It’s the cleanest.

Then come the Rule 5 questions.

Alexander Alberto and Jedixson Paez complicate everything. Neither can be optioned without risk, and neither has pitched above High-A. Alberto’s triple-digit fastball screams upside, but Paez’s control gives him a clearer bullpen fit right now. Carrying both would be aggressive—borderline unrealistic.

The safer bet is Paez staying, Alberto returning to Tampa Bay.

That decision likely squeezes Wikelman González off the roster despite his promising bullpen work in 2025. It wouldn’t be a verdict on his future—just a reminder of how crowded things have become. He’d be among the first names recalled if injuries hit.

Outside the picture, Jonathan Cannon and Jairo Iriarte appear destined for Triple-A. Iriarte’s stuff is major-league caliber, but command remains the barrier. Cannon, after a difficult 2025, needs distance from expectations more than opportunity.

Spring training could still change the equation. It always does.

But for the first time in years, the White Sox enter camp with one bullpen role clearly defined. Domínguez closes. No debate. No committee.

After that, the margins decide everything.

The ninth inning is solved.
The rest will be negotiated pitch by pitch.

And for a team trying to climb out of its own shadow, even partial certainty feels like progress.