White Sox manager Will Venable’s 2026 coaching staff is beginning to take shape.
On Tuesday, the team named Zach Bove as its new major-league pitching coach and confirmed that Matt Wise will return as the White Sox bullpen coach for a third season.
Bove replaces former White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz, who was one of four major-league coaches to not have their contracts renewed for 2026, along with hitting coach Marcus Thames, first base/outfield coach Jason Bourgeois and catching coach Drew Butera.
Bove is the first hiring the White Sox have announced this offseason, but the team’s press release mentioned that additional major-league coaching staff hires for the 2026 season will be announced in the near future.
Bove, 37, joins the White Sox after three seasons as the Kansas City Royals’ major-league assistant pitching coach. The Royals in 2025 ranked sixth in MLB with a 3.73 ERA, and allowed the eighth-fewest home runs.
Kansas City’s starting rotation in 2025 mostly consisted of Michael Wacha (3.86 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 126 K, 172.2 IP), Seth Lugo (4.15 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 125 K, 145.1 IP), Michael Lorenzen (4.64 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 127 K, 141.2 IP), Noah Cameron (2.99 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 114 K, 138.1 IP), Kris Bubic (2.55 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 116 K, 116.1 IP) and Cole Ragans (4.67 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 98 K, 61.2 IP). Royals’ closer Carlos Estevez led MLB with 42 saves while recording a 2.45 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.
Prior to his stint with the Royals, Bove spent four season with the Minnesota Twins. He was the minor-league assistant pitching coordinator from 2021-22, special projects coordinator in 202 and pitching coach for the Golf League Twins in 2019.
A Winter Haven, Fla. native, Bove worked at the College of Central Florida from 2012-18, first as a hitting coach and later as the pitching coach and recruiging coordinator. He played first base at Central Florida from 2007-08 and Flagler College from 2009-10.
While it’s too early to map out exactly what the White Sox rotation will look like, the team also announced on Tuesday that left-hander Martín Pérez has declined the $10 million mutual option for 2026 and will receive a $1.5 million buyout. Pérez, 34, was productive when healthy, recording a 3.54 ERA in 56 innings, but he missed roughly four months of the season with an elbow injury and ended the year on the injured list.
Two big wins for the White Sox in 2025 came with the development of rookies Shane Smith and Mike Vasil, who were selected in December’s Rule 5 Draft. Smith became an All-Star as a starter, and Vasil recorded a 2.50 ERA in 101 innings, primarily out of the bullpen.
Along with Smith, other potential candidates for the White Sox 2026 starting rotation include Davis Martin, Sean Burke, Jonathan Cannon, Hagen Smith, Noah Schultz, Yoendrys Gomez and Grant Taylor, along with any free agent signings or trade acquisitions.
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