GLENDALE, Ariz. — The White Sox brought back a familiar face to fight for a spot in their starting rotation Monday on the eve of pitchers’ and catchers’ official report date for spring training, agreeing to a one-year deal with Erick Fedde pending a physical, a source confirmed.
Fedde will look to rediscover the serviceable form he provided in 2024 after general manager Chris Getz first snagged him from South Korea’s KBO League, going 7-4 with a 3.11 ERA in 21 starts as a rare bright spot on a squad that ended up losing a modern-era-record 121 games.
The right-hander, who turns 33 this month, led that team with 4.6 wins above replacement, per Baseball Reference, despite being dealt to St. Louis at that year’s trade deadline.
Getz declined to comment on the deal, which wasn’t official when he spoke to reporters outside the team’s Arizona training complex, but he noted Fedde “had a lot of success here not too long ago.”
Things went south for Fedde last year during stints with the Cardinals, Braves and Brewers, as he posted an overall record of 4-13 with a 5.49 ERA across 24 starts and 8 relief appearances. His fastball tops out around 93 mph along with a sinker, cutter, sweeper and change.
While he turned it around late last season out of the bullpen for Milwaukee, holding hatters to a .186 average, Fedde figures to be back in the starting mix for manager Will Venable and first-year pitching coach Zach Bove.
The only names inked in the Sox’ rotation so far are ‘25 All-Star Shane Smith, Davis Martin and free-agent signing Anthony Kay.
The Sox previously added Sean Newcomb to compete for a spot with Jonathan Cannon and Sean Burke, while second-year right-handers Grant Taylor and Mike Vasil look to make their cases for the rotation as well after impressive rookie years mostly out of the bullpen. Newcomers Chris Murphy, Jedixson Paez and David Sandlin could be in the fray, too.
“We’ll sit down with each guy in the beginning of camp, we’ll start doing it tomorrow, and talk about what we’re aiming to accomplish this camp and the possibilities that might come out of it,” Getz said.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported Fedde’s signing.
Early arrivals
The Sox’ first full-squad workout isn’t until Sunday, but Japanese phenom Munetaka Murakami was among players getting some early work in at Camelback Ranch.
His session in the batting cage drew about a dozen members of the Japanese baseball press corps and plenty of Sox fans eager for a first look at the slugging first baseman.
Murakami is a household name overseas, where he was a two-time MVP for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, and a hero for Japan’s World Baseball Classic-winning squad in 2023 before signing a two-year, $34 million deal with the Sox.
But Sox staffers apparently are still getting used to his name. He arrived to find his name misspelled above his locker Sunday as “Munetaki.”
Murakami posted a photo of the misnomer to his Instagram with thinking-face and tongue-out emojis.
“He made a post about it in jest,” Getz said. “We certainly are getting that fixed if we haven’t already.”
Murakami is training with the Sox for the next two weeks before rejoining Team Japan for the WBC.