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How Jonathan Cannon Earned His Way Back to White Sox
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- How Jonathan Cannon Earned His Way Back to White Sox
After being visited by trainers during his outing on Monday, Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Huascar Brazobán landed on the IL this week with a lat strain.
In a corresponding move, the White Sox targeted long-relief help by bringing right-handed pitcher Jonathan Cannon back from Triple-A Charlotte to provide some much-needed innings.
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Cannon, 26, started the year in the minor leagues and made one appearance for the White Sox on April 12. He walked all three batters he faced and was charged with an earned run without recording an out before landing on the IL with right hip inflammation.
At the time, it was a new low for Cannon. He showed some promise during his debut season in 2024 but got knocked around in 2025 , posting a 5.82 ERA. After failing to do his job during a brief opportunity with the White Sox earlier this year, it was unclear if Cannon would ever make it back to the big league level with the organization.
There can be no doubt, though, that Cannon has made some adjustments over the course of 2026. While there's no guarantee that he'll pitch well enough to stay in Chicago, and any contributions Cannon makes to the big league club would probably be classified as a surprise, there can also be no doubt that Cannon has earned his way back to the majors.
His most recent call-up is not a result of his name, pedigree, or history at the MLB level. It's because of the progress he has shown in Charlotte this season and the work he has put in.
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Dating back to the start of July, Cannon has thrown 50 innings across nine starts with a 3.96 ERA . He has completed at least five innings in each of those starts while recording 50 strikeouts to just 13 walks.
He has also produced a whiff rate close to 30 percent during that stretch.
A notable difference between Cannon's 2025 and 2026 seasons can be found in his pitch usage. He's getting back to using the four-seam fastball as his go-to offering, cutting back on his sinker and cutter while throwing his four-seamer 34 percent of the time.
He complements it with a sweeper that grades out at 114 by Prospect Savant's Stuff+ metric (14 percent above average).
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Cannon threw his four-seam fastball just 18 percent of the time in 2025 and worked primarily with a cutter-sinker mix that he used 45 percent of the time. And yet, the four-seam fastball was his best offering. It produced the lowest batting average and slugging percentage against of any pitch in his arsenal, along with a strong 24.7% whiff rate .
According to Cannon, he also made some tweaks to his mechanics in June to clean up his control. His identity as a pitcher has always been built around pitching to contact, and returning to form during the second half of 2026 has been contingent upon getting back to that.
The results speak for themselves, and the opportunity in front of Cannon is one that could certainly last. The White Sox will need innings over the final 30 games of the 2026 season. If he does the job when called upon, there's no reason to think Cannon can't stick with this White Sox team, especially with Brazobán's injury timeline unclear.
It all comes back to performance, and for the time being, Cannon has earned his place in Chicago.
