The White Sox have found a new name at the top of their rotation, and it comes at a time when they badly needed one.
Chicago is sitting on a 2.5-game lead in the division as the regular season approaches the three-quarter point. If the season ended today, the Sox would have a first-round bye. They’ve slipped a bit this month with a 3-6 record, and the Tigers have closed the gap, but the bigger picture is still striking: the White Sox have already won 61 games, one more than they managed in the entire 2025 season.
A big reason they’ve gotten here is the offense, which has been one of the better units in the American League. But that only gets you so far if the pitching falls apart, and that was a real concern when the season began. The rotation on paper looked shaky from the start, with Shane Smith, Sean Burke, Davis Martin, Anthony Kay and Erick Fedde lined up as the group.
Smith got the first shot as the Opening Day starter and never settled in. He allowed 12 runs in 8 1/3 innings across three starts, then disappeared to Triple-A in the second week of April. That forced Chicago to look for help from somewhere else.
For a while, Davis Martin answered the call. He took advantage of a soft stretch of opposing lineups and opened with an even 2.00 ERA and a 27% strikeout rate over his first 11 starts.
But that early run didn’t last. Since the start of June, Martin has been one of the least effective pitchers in baseball, carrying a 6.83 ERA over that span.
Only Freddy Peralta has posted a higher mark in that time, using the minimum of 50 innings.
That opened the door for Sean Burke.
Burke hadn’t inspired the same confidence Martin did early on. He put up a 4.22 ERA last season, and the underlying numbers suggested more of a back-end starter than a steady anchor.
The White Sox also handled him carefully early this year, rarely pushing him past five innings and even using an opener ahead of him a few times. But since the middle of June, that approach has changed for a simple reason: Burke has earned the chance to do more.
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For now, Chicago is back to leaning on Drew Romo and Edgar Quero behind the plate, with Korey Lee standing as the top depth option. It leaves the front office with a familiar question for a club that has spent plenty of time sorting through its catching options: whether the current group is enough, or whether another move is still coming. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Suddenly Need Rotation Help As New Arm Gets A Shot
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Urquidys call-up gives Chicago a look at an arm it added from the Pirates before the Trade Deadline, and it comes with some intrigue because the White Sox have been searching for steadier innings wherever they can find them. For a team trying to piece together the back end of a season, the next few turns through the rotation now carry a little more weight, and this latest shuffle may not be the last one. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Fifth Starter Battle May Be Turning Toward One Return
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Thorpes latest step was a solid one, and it came at a time when Chicago could use some stability behind the top of the staff. There is still a recovery path to navigate and a decision to make, but the return of a pitcher who was trending well before the injury would give the White Sox a meaningful option as they sort through the back end of the rotation. [Read more 🡒]