Anthony Kay
#18 RP · White Sox
Height
6'0"
Weight
225 lbs
Age
31
College
N/A
Draft
2016, Rd 1, #31
Experience
5 yrs
Bats/Throws
L/L
F
D
D+
—
Fan Verdict
Grade this player:
Career StatsD
| Year | Team | GP | ERA | W-L | K | WHIP | IP | SV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career |  | 51 | 5.618497 | 5-3 | 108 | 1.6213872 | 0.0 | 0 |
Current Contract
Length
2 years
Total Value
$12.0M
Guaranteed
$7.2M
AAV
$6.0M/yr
Guaranteed %60%
Performance Analysis
D
FCA+
Anthony Kay grades as an above average performer among MLB relief pitchers, earning a B Performance grade. He carries a 5.59 ERA (well above the league average of 4.20, a significant concern) and a 1.61 WHIP across 85.1 innings pitched with a 9.3 K/9 rate. His 4-2 record provides context on team support and run prevention. A 9.3 K/9 rate indicates above-average swing-and-miss stuff. As a prime-age veteran at 31, Anthony is a key contributor for the White Sox.
Fan & Media Sentiment
D+
Negative
NegativeNeutralPositive
Anthony Kay's public perception sits in murky territory right now — the narrative around the 31-year-old lefty is cautiously tolerant at best, with fan sentiment tracking closer to skeptical patience than genuine confidence. The driving storyline is a familiar one for a backend starter trying to hold down a rotation spot: Kay flashes legitimate strikeout ability, then undercuts it with command lapses that turn winnable outings into damage-control situations, and the media has latched onto that inconsistency as the defining characteristic of his 2026 campaign. That framing aligns squarely with a below-average performance grade that reflects a pitcher generating just enough positive moments to stay in the conversation without delivering the reliability a $6M salary demands from a penciled-in No. 3 starter. Recent team activity on the South Side adds a layer of pressure to his situation — the White Sox acquiring Trevor Richards and shuffling roster pieces in and out suggests a front office actively searching for answers, which does nothing to cement Kay's standing in the rotation picture. The five-strikeout performance and the three scoreless innings of recovery work give fans something to point to, but a shaky command outing is never far behind, and that seesaw pattern is exactly what keeps the public from buying in. The bottom line is that Kay's narrative is one of unfulfilled potential for a former first-round pick entering his sixth season — sentiment has been steady at the D-plus level and shows no signs of breaking upward until the consistency question gets answered.
Recent Games
| Date | OPP | Result | AB | H | R | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun, 5/3 | @ SD | L 3-4 | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - |
| Mon, 4/27 | vs LAA | W 8-7 | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - |
News & Buzz
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About this player
Anthony Kay is a player in his 5th MLB season listed at RP for the White Sox. FanVerdicts maintains four independent grades for every MLB player on an active roster — Contract Value Index for the deal itself, Performance for on-field production, Sentiment for media and fan reaction, and Fan Verdict for community voting. Current grades for Anthony Kay: Contract Value Index F, Performance D, Sentiment D+, Fan Verdict pending.
Every grade refreshes on its own cadence as new data lands. Performance recalculates when MLB game stats post; Sentiment updates with new media coverage and fan discussion; Contract Value Index recomputes when contract terms change; Fan Verdict reflects live community voting on this profile. Contract details below show the structure (years, total value, average annual value, guarantees) the Contract Value Index grade is computed against.
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