The post 10 potential candidates to become the next White Sox pitching coach appeared first on Sox On 35th.
The White Sox decided to go a different direction at several coaching positions yesterday, parting ways with pitching coach Ethan Katz, hitting coach Marcus Thames, first base coach Jason Bourgeois, and catching coach Drew Butera. Much of this is likely due to Will Venable’s desire to bring in more staff members who are “his guys” – coaches he put into the position, rather than ones he inherited. All four dismissed coaches fell into that category.
Katz is perhaps the most surprising of the group, given that he had been with the team through several coaching changes and had a track record of success to stand on (more on this later). However, you can’t fault Venable for wanting to go his own direction, so it becomes time to look around the league and see which current coaches might be strong candidates to be the team’s next pitching coach.
Unlike last time and the process that led to Ethan Katz, the main priority for choosing the team’s next pitching coach isn’t just about a move to modernity – it will be primarily about philosophical alignment with Brian Bannister and the work he’s done transforming the White Sox’s pitching department. As a result, it’s important to note that many of these options have some connection to either Senior Advisor to Pitching Brian Bannister or Will Venable’s time within their given organizations.
With that, let’s review 10 potential candidates to succeed Ethan Katz.
Matt Zaleski – Pitching Coordinator, Chicago White Sox
Let’s start with a couple of internal options. Zaleski, 43, was a popular name even back when Ethan Katz was first hired by the White Sox heading into the 2021 season. He has served in a variety of roles for the South Siders – including some time in the dugout as their Triple-A Pitching Coach – but has settled in as a Pitching Coordinator over the past few seasons. Zaleski has been with the White Sox in a coaching capacity since the 2016 season.
Zaleski would be a natural fit, given his work with the organization as well as with Brian Bannister. The two are likely in lockstep with what happens at the minor league level currently, so it would make sense to send Zaleski to the major leagues to continue the work the two have been putting together at the highest level. Some sources consider Zaleski to be an early front-runner without many names known to this point.
At the same time, some individuals are more hesitant about the idea of promoting Zaleski, especially with the insular nature of the hire at a critical juncture of this next phase of the rebuild. However, since Bannister’s hire, there have been plenty of discussions on who was deserving of the credit for big league success between him and Katz. If there were any selection that could confirm that Bannister is running the show at both the big league and the minor league levels, it would be someone like Zaleski.
Scott Aldred – Pitching Coach, Charlotte Knights
The second internal option on this list, Aldred, 57, has a long coaching resume that would make him an appealing option. His first season with the White Sox was in 2025 after previously spending six seasons as the Marlins’ Minor League Pitching Coordinator. Before that, he coached for 14 years within the Yankees organization, spending most of his time as their Triple-A Pitching Coach (2009-2015).
As a player, Aldred appeared in 229 games (67 starts) over nine Major League seasons with Detroit, Colorado, Montreal, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, and Philadelphia.
During Aldred’s tenure, the Marlins saw plenty of pitchers either come up successfully through their system or make career-changing adjustments, including Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera, Max Meyer, Ryan Weathers, Tanner Scott, Jesus Luzardo, Pablo Lopez, and Eury Perez. Despite the organization’s many flaws, during Aldred’s time in Miami, its pitching development was looked upon favorably.
Given that the White Sox are likely looking for someone who aligns philosophically with Brian Bannister, the fact that the organization brought Aldred in this season speaks volumes about his fit and philosophy. He’s also a former player, which we have seen matters to Getz. Whether or not the White Sox feel he is ready for a dugout opportunity at the big league level remains to be seen – but it’s hard to find a more complete resume without big league coaching experience.
J.P. Martinez – Pitching Coach, San Francisco Giants
With a few teams deciding to move on from their managers at this early point in their respective offseasons, there are a few current pitching coaches who might be available and of interest to the White Sox. The first on this list saw his current tenure overlap with Brian Bannister’s in San Francisco.
Martinez, 42, was promoted to his current position as the team’s pitching coach in 2025. Before that, he served as the team’s assistant pitching coach for four seasons, which was his first major league assignment. He previously worked for six seasons in the Twins organization, most recently from 2018 to 2020 as their minor league assistant pitching coordinator.
Under Martinez this season, the Giants ranked in the top 10 in both ERA and xERA, the top 15 in K% and BB%, and sixth in Hard-Hit% against. For a team that didn’t make the playoffs, the pitching staff did whatever they could to keep them in the hunt.
J.P. Martinez sat down with @PavlovicNBCS and @Laura_Britt_ for an exclusive interview on Giants Talk
Listen here: https://t.co/EmB7Z7V1AG pic.twitter.com/IujYhngCBy
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) March 13, 2025
As mentioned, Martinez’s time overlapped with Bannister’s in the organization, so this could be a relationship Bannister chooses to continue on the South Side. While it isn’t clear how interested the White Sox are or if Martinez would be allowed to explore opportunities elsewhere, it’s worth keeping an eye on him with his combination of results, experience, and ties to Bannister.
Pete Maki – Pitching Coach, Minnesota Twins
With the Twins choosing to part ways with Rocco Baldelli, here is another instance where a current pitching coach might become available – and this one with divisional ties.
Make has spent three and a half seasons as the Twins’ pitching coach. He spent over a decade as a college pitching coach, coming to the Twins in 2017 as their minor league pitching coordinator. He was named the team’s bullpen coach before the 2020 season, where he worked closely with the highly acclaimed Wes Johnson before he went on to become the head coach at LSU.
His pitching coach resume includes the success of players such as Jhoan Duran, Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez, and Emilio Pagan. Despite a rough 2025 campaign, the Twins’ staff as a whole ranked in the top half of the league in most pitching categories this season, and in his first two seasons, the Twins were a top-five pitching staff in the league. In 2023, they even led the league in K%.
One thing of note has been the attention put on the buy-in among all of the Twins’ pitching coaches to the team’s organizational pitching philosophy, working in concert with the front office. This sounds similar to the situation that Maki would be walking into with Bannister running the show, so if their philosophies can align, Maki would present another opportunity to bring someone into the fold with recent success in the role – and just maybe the White Sox can learn something about the division in the process. At the very least, Maki should garner an interview on his resume alone.
Jared Hughes – Coordinator of Pitching Performance, Los Angeles Angels
Now we shift gears from some strong current pitching coaches to those who could potentially fill that role if they don’t see a promotion forward on their current team. Jared Hughes is a former big league pitcher who spent time with the Pirates, Brewers, Reds, Phillies, and Mets throughout his career. He was 30-26 with a 2.96 ERA throughout his career, and is probably best known for his entrance into games as a reliever – a dead sprint from the bullpen.
In 2021, after his retirement, Hughes was hired as an analyst by the Angels, and since 2024, he has served as the coordinator of pitching analysis for the team. Hughes once discovered that seam-shifted wake was crucial to the performance of his sinker while he was an active reliever near the end of his career, so he read up on the phenomenon, contacted the man who discovered it to learn more, and built a lab in his backyard to perfect that movement during the pandemic. The Mets’ Clay Holmes credited conversations with Hughes for some of his own sinker improvement.
In 2023, Eno Sarris also listed him as one of the rising names of future executives and coaches around the league, so he has gotten plenty of recognition for his work in Los Angeles, despite it not being known as a “pitching factory” by any means. In that Sarris article, one source wrote, “I know he will end up doing a lot more than he is doing now.’
“I want to keep pushing forward. I don’t really care about titles. I just want to keep pushing forward with the knowledge of baseball.”
– Hughes in a 2025 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article (Jason Mackey)
He has yet to coach within the dugout, so the White Sox would certainly be taking a risk there. However, Chris Getz and Will Venable have shown that they value coaches with major league playing experience, so Hughes fits that description. If he and Bannister can align on a pitching philosophy that works for the team, perhaps the White Sox would be prepared to take a chance on a first-time big league coach.
Casey Jacobson – Assistant Pitching Coach, Chicago Cubs
With Tommy Hottovy leading the Cubs’ pitching staff and doing a really good job of it, it might make sense for teams to call one of the other young minds on the staff who has been crucial to the Cubs’ turnaround in pitching development.
Jacobson, 35, is a former instructor at Driveline Baseball and spent six years coaching in the college ranks at Macalester College and Augustana University. One of Craig Breslow’s first moves as the Cubs’ pitching chief back in 2019 was to hire Jacobson away from Driveline, and since then, he has risen through the ranks. Starting as the team’s coordinator of pitching development, Jacobson was brought to the big league staff in 2025 with the departure of Daniel Moskos to Miami. Those within the organization laud Jacobson for his interpersonal skills and ability to connect with young pitchers by earning their trust by clearly delivering messages and tying them into what the player actually values.
According to Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, Jacobson impacted the development of several young pitchers in the Cubs organization, including Porter Hodge, Daniel Palencia, and Jordan Wicks. The 2025 season also brought the rise of Cade Horton, who more than made his case to win Rookie of the Year on the back of a 2.67 ERA across 118 innings.
It’s worth noting that Will Venable’s time with the Cubs overlapped with Jacobson’s – albeit just one season – but his connections with the organization are worth calling out here. That isn’t to diminish the work Jacobson has done, as he earns consideration for this role on the back of the body of work he’s put together. As is the case with all of the names on this list, if he and Brian Bannister can get on the same page philosophically, it appears the White Sox should have no concerns about his ability to communicate with players and put an organizational philosophy into practice at the highest level.
Dave Bush – Assistant Pitching Coach, Texas Rangers
Another former big leaguer, Dave Bush spent parts of nine seasons with the Blue Jays, Brewers, and Rangers, retiring in 2013. After a year away from baseball, Bush returned in a coaching role on both the local and international levels. He was an assistant coach for the Bridgton Academy in 2015-2016. During these same years, he worked with MLB International to grow the sport of baseball in other countries. Bush coached for the South African national team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers and for the Chinese national team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Late in 2016, Bush joined his first big league club, with the Boston Red Sox bringing him on as a pitching development analyst. In early 2019, his title changed to Minor League Pitching Coordinator for Performance, and before the 2020 season, Bush was named the team’s big league pitching coach. He was let go following the 2023 season, but was quickly picked up by the Rangers. In 2024, he served as their Director of Pitching Strategy, and in 2025, he was back in the dugout as an assistant pitching coach. With Bruce Bochy’s departure this week, his status for the 2026 season is unclear.
It’s worth noting that the pitching staff has been far from the problem for the Rangers over the past few seasons since their World Series run, especially with the staff posting a 3.49 team ERA this season, which led the majors. However, his tenure in Boston was a bit more rocky, with the big league staff ranking average-to-below-average in most statistical categories from 2020-2023.
Not much has been published about Bush’s philosophies, but it’s worth noting that his time in Boston briefly overlapped with Bannister’s, and his time in Texas also overlapped with Venable’s. His big league experience would also likely be seen as a positive for the White Sox.
Trent Blank – Director of Pitching Strategy, Seattle Mariners
Blank, 36, played college ball at Baylor University and was drafted in the 30th round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Rockies, spending three years in the organization. He just completed his third season as the Mariners’ Director of Pitching Strategy, which was his sixth season on a big league coaching staff and his seventh as a coach in the Mariners organization. He joined the Mariners as the Coordinator of Pitching Strategy in 2019 and was tabbed to serve in that role again in 2020 before joining the big league coaching staff as the acting bullpen coach for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Seattle is typically known as a strong pitching development team, and over the three seasons Blank has served in his current role, the Mariners rank second in MLB in ERA, sixth in K%, and first in BB%. Blank describes his philosophy as a blend of an analytics mindset and a feel for the player development and mindset parts of the game. The Mariners have also been a team known for providing unique looks among their bullpen arms, both in pitch mix and arm slots, which could help a White Sox bullpen that has struggled in its makeup during much of Katz’s tenure.
“I do like unique — especially when it comes to our relievers; that helps provide different looks, different ways to match up — but I’ve also grown to love the extraordinary guys who can do simple things over and over again.”
– Trent Blank in an interview with FanGraphs
Blank seems to have a good thing going in Seattle, so it’s unclear if he would ever want to leave a role similar to Bannister’s in name. But his resume speaks for itself, and the White Sox would do well to pull a name from an organization that has plenty of success in pitching development.
Jim Henderson – Assistant Pitching Coach, Milwaukee Brewers
The White Sox took Walker McKinven from the Brewers last season, so why not take another one of their coaches this year?
Henderson, 42, was picked by the Montreal Expos in the 26th round of the 2003 amateur draft out of college. He spent parts of three seasons in the majors with the Brewers and Mets before starting his coaching career as a player/coach with the 2018 Biloxi Shuckers, though he never appeared in a game. He was the pitching coach for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 2019, scheduled to coach the San Antonio Missions in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19, and the pitching coach of the Nashville Sounds in 2021. In 2022, he was named bullpen coach of the Brewers, a role he held for two seasons. In 2024, he was promoted to assistant pitching coach, and in 2025, his title was assistant pitching and strategy coach, seemingly tasked with some of the items previously assigned to the aforementioned McKinven.
Henderson and the team’s pitching coach, Chris Hook, have both played vital roles in getting the team to where it is today on the pitching side. The team has consistently shown an ability to get the most out of pitchers who have not reached their perceived ceiling. Notably, the Brewers made what was considered a strange move mid-season, trading for Quinn Priester of the Red Sox in exchange for Yophery Rodriguez and a Competitive Balance Round A pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. Priester, who had struggled throughout his early career with the Pirates and Red Sox, found success in Milwaukee to the tune of a 3.32 ERA and 3.62 FIP this year.
“I think we have a really good sense. I guess a really good North Star. I think everyone has their North Star and what we’re all driving toward and what they’re all trying to get to. But I think our group does a good job of really defining what that is in our processes and always leans towards that.”
– Chris Hook via USA Today article (Todd Rosiak)
This “north star” resulted in a team that ranked second in MLB in ERA this season despite dealing with key injuries early in the season. In his two seasons as assistant pitching coach, the Brewers have ranked at the top of the league in ERA, lending itself to the idea of getting the most possible out of guys.
Much like with a few of the names on this list, not much is known about Henderson philosophically. However, given that he works for the very analytically-oriented Brewers, it feels safe to say he is a forward-thinking coach. His playing background could certainly be a point in his favor, and Venable and Getz have shown that they’re fans of the Brewers organization. Perhaps McKinven might put in some words one way or another for Henderson, but his ability to align philosophically with Bannister doesn’t seem to be much in question, given his and Hook’s mentality in Milwaukee.
Mark Lowy – Assistant Pitching Coach, Philadelphia Phillies
Back in 2021, I named Caleb Cotham as a potential option to become the White Sox’ next pitching coach. He instead found himself as the pitching coach in Philadelphia, and as you’ve seen, has experienced much success with guys like Aaron Nola, Zach Wheeler, Jesus Luzardo, Christopher Sanchez, and Ranger Suarez, to name a few. Instead of getting him this time, let’s get his second-in-command.
Lowy, 33, has been with the Phillies the past five years, with this current season being his first in the position. He was previously their lead pitching development analyst for a season in 2024. He joined the Phillies in 2021 as an integrative baseball performance associate in player development. He was promoted to pitching development analyst in 2022 and upper-level pitching coordinator in 2023.
Lowy was born in Ridgewood, N.J., and played college baseball at Gettysburg College. Before he joined the Phillies, he worked as an associate pitching coordinator for Cressey Sports Performance in Florida, which is a popular and highly regarded training facility for professional baseball players, including pitchers Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and top Phillies prospect Andrew Painter.
What makes the Phillies’ pitching staff great?
Assistant Pitching Coach Mark Lowy shares some insight
pic.twitter.com/XPMao9Eu3p
— Gregg Murphy (@GMurphPhils) August 29, 2025
When you’re looking for coaches, you’re often looking at some of the best organizations around. Lowy checks the boxes of someone with high-level coaching experience for a successful organization with a strong analytics background and connection to player development. At the very least, he would be someone worth interviewing, even if his experience in the dugout is still a bit limited, especially if he is going to be more of an implementer for the philosophies that Bannister is building into the pitching staff.
Other Names Considered
While these names didn’t make my final list, I did want to call them out as ones who deserve credit for the work they’re doing around baseball as coaches:
- Jon Goebel – Upper Level Pitching/AAA Pitching Coach, Texas Rangers
- Robin Lund – Assistant Pitching Coach, Detroit Tigers
- Colby Suggs – Assistant Pitching Coach, Minnesota Twins
- Zach Bove – Assistant Pitching Coach, Kansas City Royals
- Max Weiner – Pitching Coach, Texas Longhorns
One name on this list I do want to call out is Weiner’s. I think he is going to be a big league pitching coach somewhere down the line. At only 30 years old, it’s probably not his time just yet. But, he’s putting together an impressive resume at the college level, and after watching Chris Fetter’s jump from Michigan to the Tigers, it’s not improbable to say he could get the call one day. This is one where I want to call my shot early – remember this when that day comes for him.
There are likely also names that will pop up after the season, as some candidates won’t be able to be interviewed until after their time in the postseason is over. This list is more educated guessing than anything else – though last time, I was 2-for-4 on guys I highlighted becoming MLB pitching coaches.
A Final Farewell to Ethan Katz
I do want to stop briefly to give Ethan Katz his flowers for the work he did over the past five seasons with the White Sox. Surviving multiple managerial changes is a testament to the work he put in, and at the very least, Katz helped modernize a pitching development program that had been stuck in neutral for far too long. For that alone, I am incredibly appreciative as a fan of the work Katz did here.
I considered Ethan Katz to have been a good pitching coach for the White Sox. Sure, the team had its flaws throughout his tenure. But when the team was most competitive (2021-2022), the staff ranked ninth in MLB in ERA, fifth in K%, and ninth in batting average against. Even this season, amid all the struggles and changes, the White Sox still improved from 2024 to 2025 on the mound. With Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito, Carlos Rodon, and Garrett Crochet among the players who had great White Sox tenures under Katz, you certainly can’t say he didn’t experience any success in the role. Even Jordan Leasure’s improvement throughout this season, Gregory Santos before he was traded, or guys like Davis Martin or Tanner Banks speak to an ability to get talent out of players, even if they don’t have ace upside. And while the White Sox never developed a true “stud” bullpen arm during Katz’s tenure, it’s a fine line between a problem with player development and a problem with player talent. If a player succeeds, is it Bannister or Katz’s doing? If they fail, whose fault is it? There’s no clear line between these, at least to fans, which makes changing just half of the equation a difficult one in my mind. Many fans want to credit Bannister for all the pitching successes, but Katz for the failures. I’m not sure if I can get behind that.
At the end of the day, it’s not a slight to call someone a “good” pitching coach – even if they aren’t among the upper echelon. Finding a good pitching coach is much harder than you’d think, because there are certainly a lot of bad ones out there. That’s why parting ways with a good one can lead to mixed opinions – and I do believe Katz will find a job somewhere else relatively quickly, as, according to Jim Margalus of SoxMachine, Katz has a strong reputation around the league.
At the end of the day, however, after a strong 2025 showing relative to expectations, this is clearly Will Venable’s team, and he has earned the right as a big league manager to pick the coaches around him. Whether he ultimately succeeds or fails, it should be his guys around him – that’s how an organization should operate.
With the closure of the Katz Lab in Chicago comes some new opportunities for someone else. Hopefully, the individual comes in and elevates the work Bannister and Katz have put into place, because the 2025 season did leave some to be desired on the pitching side.
A final note: Ethan Katz was also a friend of the page, giving us an interview a few years back heading into the 2022 season. If you haven’t seen it, I think it’s still worth a listen today.
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Featured Image: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
The post 10 potential candidates to become the next White Sox pitching coach appeared first on Sox On 35th.