The White Sox announced that right-hander Drew Thorpe will undergo a Tommy John surgery. Dr. Keith Meister will perform the procedure, and Thorpe will miss the next 13-15 months in recovery.
The news caps off a brutal stretch of health struggles for the 24-year-old righty. Thorpe’s rookie season was cut short by a flexor strain in early August, and he underwent a surgery in early September to remove a bone spur from his throwing elbow. The recovery process didn’t go entirely smoothly, as Thorpe got a cortisone shot in January to help overcome some lingering discomfort from the procedure. Thorpe then had a slow ramp-up during Spring Training and didn’t make his first in-game appearance until a minor league appearance on Thursday, but then that outing was cut short when he left with elbow discomfort.
A second-round pick for the Yankees in the 2022 draft, Thorpe quickly emerged as a well-regarded prospect, and he has already been part of two major trades in his young career. New York included Thorpe as one of the five players sent to the Padres last offseason as part of the Juan Soto trade, and San Diego then flipped Thorpe (and three other players) to the White Sox a few months later in the deal that brought Dylan Cease to the Friars’ rotation.
After that tumultuous offseason, Thorpe looked to settle in as a major piece of Chicago’s rebuilding efforts, and he looked great over 11 starts at the Double-A level. The Sox then decided to call Thorpe straight up to the Show without a stop at Triple-A, and Thorpe perhaps understandably struggled in posting a 5.48 ERA over 44 1/3 innings against MLB hitters.
His next big league start now won’t come until at least midway through the 2026 season, as Thorpe and the White Sox will lose over a full year of important developmental time. Even if Thorpe had started the year at Triple-A, a good showing in the minors would’ve surely gotten him back to the majors in due course, with an eye towards fully establishing himself as a part of the future on the South Side. If there’s any silver lining for Thorpe, it is the fact that spending the year on the big league version of the 60-day injured list will bank him a full year of Major League service time.
The White Sox obviously weren’t expected to contend this season, but losing Thorpe is still a tough blow to the rotation. Manager Will Venable announced earlier this week that Rule 5 Draft pick Shane Smith would break camp with the team, and step into the rotation spot left open by Thorpe’s absence. Sean Burke, Jonathan Cannon, Davis Martin, and veteran Martin Perez around out the rest of the projected starting five.
Thorpe is the fourth Sox pitcher to require a TJ surgery in the last two months, as the injury bug has taken a big bite out of the team’s ranks of young pitchers. Prelander Berroa, Ky Bush, and 40-man roster member Juan Carela will all be sidelined into the 2026 season after undergoing the procedure.