The Chicago White Sox designated José Urquidy for assignment on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, clearing a 40-man roster spot to activate pitching prospect Drew Thorpe, who is returning from Tommy John surgery. Urquidy leaves Chicago with a 5.28 ERA — but his Statcast xERA of 3.41 says the results weren’t the whole picture. It’s his third DFA of the year. For the White Sox, it’s a roster move made in the middle of a legitimate AL Central pennant race.
50 Days That Ended Before the Playoffs
Urquidy arrived in Chicago on July 27, acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Dominican prospect Félix Doroteo. The idea was to add depth to a rotation leading the division. Nobody expected his time there to last less than two months.
With Pittsburgh before the trade, his numbers had been rough: an 8.53 ERA and 2.68 WHIP across just 6.1 innings. Chicago bet on him anyway. And for a while, it looked like the right call — on August 20, he threw 6 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts against the Cubs, his best outing of the year and a big reason the organization kept believing in him.
But the return of Davis Martin to the rotation, combined with Thorpe’s imminent activation, left no room for Urquidy. The roster simply couldn’t fit both.
The Prospect Who Took His Spot
Drew Thorpe, 25, came to Chicago in March 2024 as part of the Dylan Cease trade with San Diego. Shortly after, he had surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow. Then in the spring of 2026, his UCL snapped during a rehab game — sending him back under the knife for Tommy John. The cost of his return was Urquidy’s roster spot.
In his final two Triple-A Charlotte rehab starts, Thorpe threw 10 innings, allowed just 3 earned runs, and struck out 12 batters. Those numbers were enough to convince the organization the move was worth making.
For Urquidy, the DFA doesn’t mean an immediate release. With more than five years of MLB service time, he has the right to refuse a minor-league assignment. He enters a seven-day waiver period — any team can claim him. If no one does, he’ll decide whether to accept an assignment or pursue another big-league deal.
A Champion Who Deserves Better Than the Back Door
The numbers don’t tell the full story here. Urquidy is the only pitcher born in Mexico with multiple World Series wins, having been part of the Houston Astros’ 2022 championship and appearing in three Fall Classics over his career. His career line stands at 29-18 with a 4.08 ERA and 350 strikeouts in the majors. Today’s DFA doesn’t erase any of that.
What it does make clear is that at 31, Urquidy is at a crossroads: three DFAs in 2026, metrics split between what the scoreboard says and what Statcast says, and a market that will ask whether he’s still worth a guaranteed contract. The answer, for now, is in those seven waiver days.
The Numbers Behind the ERA
Urquidy’s 2026 ERA looks worse than he actually pitched. Here’s what Statcast tracked across 29.0 innings this season:
- ERA: 5.28 · WHIP: 1.52
- xERA: 3.41 — the ERA Statcast says he deserved based on contact quality
- Strikeouts: 21 · Walks: 7 (16% strikeout rate)
- Fastball velocity: 92.6 mph · Spin rate: 2,257 rpm
- Whiff rate: 22% of swings against him miss
- Exit velocity allowed: 87.4 mph (the lower, the softer contact)
- Barrel rate allowed: 6%
- Batting average against: .306
How he compares around MLB:
- Fastball velocity: 21st percentile — not his primary weapon
- Fastball spin: 44th percentile
- Curveball spin: 78th percentile — his best tool according to Statcast
