PHOENIX -- Pitchers and catchers reporting at Camelback Ranch is always a visually striking opportunity to mark the passage of time, especially for a White Sox franchise that no longer is attempting to stand athwart it.
Years ago, seeing the Sox lay out Rapsodo machines on the grass by their bullpen mounds felt like a leap into the future. Now it's barely worth noting the blue Edgertronic camera watching Mason Adams throwing his first side since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, or set up behind every single pitching rubber, since fellow rehabbers Prelander Berroa and Ky Bush threw beside him. A few feet away from where Pedro Grifol once had a placard outlining his "FAST" mantra mounted to a wall that players pass by every day, is now a far more verbose rundown of Ryan Fuller's principles for hitting, which wraps up with a bolded promise that "White Sox hitters relentlessly apply pressure until the opponent breaks."
Just days ago, prized free-agent signing Munetaka Murakami's nameplate was spelled wrong, and lo and behold, White Sox baseball bravely lurches forward to the future and now it's spelled correctly.
"Really personable guy, somebody that is gonna be a great guy in our clubhouse, gonna make an impact," said manager Will Venable.
If the White Sox's glee at landing Murakami from a bidding process that was once projected to extend beyond their means resembled a dog that caught a car, the metaphor breaks down upon seeing him at spring training, unless you can imagine a dog building a whole routine to try to maximize their limited time with said car. Murakami's locker neighbor is his newly hired interpreter, who has his own nameplate (seemingly also correctly spelled) and accompanied him from cage sessions that Will Venable insist are more structured this year, to on-field batting practice, to a prolonged individual defensive work session with third base coach Justin Jirschele and player development special assistant Phil Nevin.
After one grounder scooted away from him at first, Sox personnel had to corral Murakami and tell him that he's not personally responsible for running down balls that roll away into right field, and also issue a reminder of what's really expected from him.
"You know what makes a really good first baseman?" said Nevin, before pausing both to set up the punchline and wait for his setup to be translated. "40 home runs."
Just someone with enough accomplishments to even hint at such potential is an accelerant to the small collection of White Sox players who represent their young core, which had already been referring to their 2025 second half performance as proof that they have something cooking.
"When you're at home in the offseason, seeing that moves are being made and the team's improving and everything, it's very, very exciting," said Mike Vasil, with his Batman mask sitting in his locker stall behind him. "Theere were certain things that we would do throughout the season, as the season was ending, that are making us look forward to this year. Because we've all now experienced it, and now we're all back. And now we have guys, as well, that have — Seranthony Domínguez pitched in the World Series. There's certain guys now that have gone to that highest point, and, adding those guys in this clubhouse is a big, big deal."
Venable referred to Vasil as someone who deserved a spot to compete for a rotation spot based on what he did before, which only stands out because he is mostly preaching a message that sounds like a departure from the wealth of back-patting that a 28-37 second half (albeit with a positive run differential) produced.
"Our approach going into camp is to start at zero and really get back to the basics and create habits around the things that we know lead to winning," Venable said. "We're gonna let them know how proud of the group we are, and certainly the momentum that they've created in the second half last year, the things that we were able to accomplish in the offseason, all these players had productive offseasons. Our coaches did a great job in helping these guys continue to develop through the offseason. But we have to start at zero."
That's a welcome sentiment for their most prominent pitching prospects who weren't a part of last year's late upturn. Neither Noah Schultz nor Hagen Smith had seasons that dimmed their long-term potential, but both were internally expected to debut in the majors in 2025 and endured seasons too wayward to ever make that a realistic consideration. A pair of top-100 caliber pitching prospects carrying a chip on their shoulder isn't the worst thing.
"I feel like got a lot better this offseason and I want to prove it," said Smith, who focused on his split-change and syncing up the timing of his lower half movement with his arm action in his delivery. "Obviously people have expectations, but I have certain expectations. I hold myself to a high standard. I didn’t meet that last year. This year, I hope I will."
"I got back with one of my pitching coaches that I've been with for a while, got back with him and cleaned some stuff up and I'm really happy with the progress we made," Schultz said of his offseason training after a 2025 addled by patellar tendinitis. "Last year I could get a little wild, lose a hitter and throw a couple walks in there. It's not something I'm used to doing in the past."
An active offseason and the transactional nature of the White Sox front office means there's still plenty of unfamiliar faces on the first day of camp, but between the insular nature of the industry and an actual existing young core, there are signs of their professed team camaraderie being more than just talk.
New prospect addition David Sandlin trains at the same facility in Oklahoma City as Davis Martin in the offseason, and as such had already been working on adding a kick change before he was traded to the White Sox. Between Smith, Tanner McDougal, Sam Antonacci, William Bergolla Jr. and Zach Franklin, a lot of Birmingham Barons Southern League championship core is present and convinced they belong.
"I remember when he came into Birmingham the first time," Smith said of McDougal. "Just watching him throw his bullpen, I was like, 'That’s different.'"
Free-agent signing Sean Newcomb was throwing partners for the entire winter with Vasil, and Vasil is now rooming with catcher Kyle Teel this spring. For as much worry there is over whether Teel and Edgar Quero's development and playing time can co-exist, they seem like amiable colleagues as they watch bullpens together and bounce observations off each other, or discuss which situations to use ser versus estar.
"This is just a great unit, we all get along, we’re all friends, we all kept up this offseason," said Jonathan Cannon. "Everyone in this clubhouse, everyone in any clubhouse at some point has run into some kind of adversity, some kind of struggles on the mound. And you just can’t be defined by that, you’ve got to bounce back stronger. It’s how you respond. I’m looking forward to going out there and responding this year and showing everyone what I know I’m capable of."
