White Sox’s Tanner McDougal Proves His Mettle As A Starter
In spring training last year, White Sox leadership was pondering at what point of the 2025 season righthander Tanner McDougal might move to the bullpen.
The 2021 fifth-round pick had touched triple digits on his fastball repeatedly and touted a curveball that averaged 3,000 rpm of spin and a slider that was even nastier.
But McDougal also had walked 101 batters in 161.2 innings since coming back from Tommy John surgery in 2023, and he ended 2024 at Low-A Kannapolis after a demotion.
“The consistency, historically, has not been what Tanner himself would tell you he wants it to be,” White Sox farm director Paul Janish said.
Fast-forward to the present, and McDougal, who turns 23 this season, was the most “obvious” addition to Chicago’s 40-man roster in November, per senior advisor to pitching Brian Bannister.
McDougal totaled 136 strikeouts in 113 innings with a 3.27 ERA in 2025, spending the second half with Double-A Birmingham on its run to a Southern League title. He walked a career-low 10.2% of batters.
“Gained a lot of my confidence back,” McDougal said. “I lost some of it having TJ, coming back and struggling. But it just reinforces the thoughts that, ‘I’m capable of doing this, and I am where I belong.’ ”
The son of a longtime minor league reliever, McDougal has a burly 6-foot-5 build. He spent the previous winter—and returned again this offseason—to training at Cressey Sports Performance.
The White Sox are encouraged that he held upper-90s velocity deep into games at the end of his longest pro season and also by his high-80s gyro slider that ran a nearly 50% miss rate.
“The walks (and) strikes were something we were watching, and he went out and really attacked the zone at new rates,” Bannister said.
“He can pitch in multiple roles, like a Grant Taylor, but I think for now, especially with what he did midway through the year and second half, he proved that he’s a starter for now and can handle the durability of starting.”
