Jose Urquidy has put himself back in the White Sox rotation conversation, and he may get the next turn Monday. The 31-year-old right-hander, who had not made a major league start since 2023, struck out nine Cubs hitters in six innings last week and followed that with six scoreless frames at Wrigley Field.
That outing mattered because it gave the White Sox a fresh look at a pitcher acquired in a small minors swap last month. Urquidy has lived through bigger stages than this one — he was pitching in the ALCS three years ago and was a playoff performer during the Astros’ contention run — but this return has been built on something far more basic: getting healthy enough to throw again after much of the previous two seasons were lost to rehab from his second career Tommy John surgery.
The pitch mix showed why he can still help. Urquidy usually sits 93 mph, but last Wednesday he worked with sinkers, changeups and a mid-70s curveball, using movement and timing rather than pure velocity to get through the Cubs lineup. He said the modern game forces that adjustment, with hitters and pitchers both bringing more power and more 100 mph arms, and that he has to survive by being athletic, keeping energy in his delivery and spinning the ball well.
He also knows the clock is part of the job now. When he gets 14 seconds or 10, he said, he wants time to breathe, check the grip and decide what comes next. That is the kind of routine a pitcher leans on when he is trying to turn one strong outing into a real role, not just a nice night.
Still, the fit is not completely settled. Urquidy is being viewed as a rotation option even though the last time he started in the majors was 2023, and that gap matters because the White Sox are trying to sort out who can hold innings. Shane Smith’s run back in Charlotte has been shaky, with a 5.56 ERA in Triple-A and 22 walks in 31 2/3 innings since he returned from a rotation cuff strain last month, which helps explain why the staff is open to another arm.
Monday will tell the next part of the story. If Urquidy follows last week’s six-inning, nine-strikeout showing with another solid start, he can force the White Sox to keep him in the mix rather than treat him as a one-off call-up. If not, the club still has a decision to make about how long to keep a veteran arm with postseason experience in a rotation that is still searching for stability.
