Guardians' division rival’s pitching staff takes huge hit with injury to budding star

This is the time of year where MLB teams begin to tighten their rosters ahead of Opening Day. Most of the time those roster decisions are made after long camp roster battles. But sometimes teams are forced to make decisions because of a plan-changing injury.

That happened to the Chicago White Sox earlier this week when they announced that starter Mike Vasil was set to undergo Tommy John surgery after he had left his last spring training start with elbow soreness. 

Vasil made his MLB debut for the White Sox last year and threw the ball in a long-relief role, which built up a ton of buzz that he could be a rotation option for the White Sox in 2026. 

But that buzz took a huge hit thanks to Vasil undergoing Tommy John surgery that will keep him out for all of 2026. While the White Sox weren’t going to compete for the American League Central title regardless of whether Vasil was healthy, his injury does make things a bit easier for the Guardians in 2026. 

The Guardians shouldn’t be as scared of the White Sox thanks to Mike Vasil’s injury

Last season Vasil recorded a 2.50 ERA in 101 innings of work across 47 appearances, which speaks to his versatility. While he only struck out 19.4% of the batters he faced and had an eye-popping 12.3% walk rate, he still had a full year of MLB success, which is a premium for a rebuilding White Sox team. 

The White Sox didn’t waste much time finalizing their rotation after Vasil’s injury, as manager Will Venable announced that Shane Smith, Sean Burke, Anthony Kay, Davis Martin and Erick Fedde will break camp as the team’s top five starters.

Smith was the White Sox’s lone All-Star last season and finished the year with a 3.17 ERA in the second half, though he’d like to be a No. 3 or 4 starter on any other rotation. 

Burke was Chicago’s Opening Day starter last season and is another solid mid-rotation option, and Martin also spent most of last season with the White Sox. 

Kay and Fedde are looking for bounceback seasons with the White Sox after not being with Chicago in 2025. 

Meanwhile the Guardians have six MLB-ready starters fighting for five spots in the rotation and have one of the best pitching factories in baseball. There’s a reason Cleveland has won back-to-back American League Central titles while the White Sox have won just 101 games over that same time period. 

While the White Sox will probably be a bit better this season, the Guardians have dominated Chicago over the past two years. And they’re going to need to do that again in 2026 if they want to keep pace with the Tigers.