How this White Sox pitcher evolved into an ace
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Davis Martin is not afraid to make a change.
Or two. Or three.
Just look at the evolution of Martin's pitch mix. Since making his MLB debut in 2022 -- four years after being drafted in the 14th round -- the right-hander has reshaped his arsenal while embracing new trends and advancements in modern pitching development.
Martin joined the sweeper craze in 2024 on the other side of Tommy John surgery (though he has since ditched the pitch). He was one of the first big leaguers to try out a kick-changeup. Now, with the addition of a cutter to round out a six-pitch mix, Martin is reaping the benefits of another league-wide movement: having multiple fastball shapes.
Those changes have helped Martin become an ace for the feel-good White Sox, whose playoff odds are up to a season-high 20.5% as of Monday, per FanGraphs. Martin carries a 2.00 ERA into Tuesday night's start against the Twins at Target Field. That's the sixth best ERA in the Majors among qualified starters. His 2.31 FIP is fourth best.
Martin -- who entered this year with a 4.32 ERA in parts of three big league seasons -- has been one of the most valuable pitchers in baseball. FanGraphs has him No. 4. Baseball Reference has him even higher.
Most valuable pitchers in baseball, 2026
By Baseball Reference WAR (bWAR)
1. Cristopher Sánchez (PHI): 4.3
2-T. Cam Schlittler (NYY): 3.2
2-T. Davis Martin (CWS): 3.2
4. Jacob Misiorowski (MIL): 3.0
5-T. Chase Burns (CIN): 2.9
5-T. Nick Martinez (TB): 2.9
This is not the same pitcher we saw a few years ago. It's not even the same guy from last season.
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Martin threw his first two-seamer last April. He sprinkled a cutter into his mix last July. Both pitches have seen a significant uptick in usage this year, becoming foundational pieces in his repetoire.
These days, pitchers are using bigger and bigger arsenals. The appeal of three different fastball shapes is a large reason why. The three fastball variants -- four-seamer, sinker, cutter -- are often thrown out of the same window and are moving at similar speeds. When the batter has to make a swing decision, the pitches look the same. But by the time they get to the plate, they are moving differently.
"I think one of the themes coming into the year was that starters who have very diverse arsenals, can throw five or six different pitches, we've seen their increase in value over the last couple of years, as hitters get better at game-planning," said Brian Bannister, the organization's senior advisor to pitching.
"Most teams have that Trajekt pitching machine now where they can literally hit off you before they go into their at-bat. They have all these weapons to kind of try and take away your weapons. And the pitchers who can go out there and show five or six different pitches really have an edge right now. And so just his ability to go out, not get into patterns, not throw any one pitch too often, but just execute and have weapons to both righties and lefties, along with kind of his devastating slider/kick-change -- it's been impressive to see."
That's a lot to take in, especially from a smart pitching mind in Bannister. So let's break down what all of this really looks like on the mound.
For one, Martin is exceptionally unpredictable.
Martin is one of four starting pitchers (min. 500 pitches) who throws six different pitches at least 10% of the time, along with the Rockies' Tomoyuki Sugano and Kyle Leahy, and Michael McGreevy of the Cardinals. The balanced mix allows Martin to mix and match. He consistently uses six pitches to right-handed batters and five -- all but his slider -- to lefties.
On top of that, five of Martin's pitches are thrown with an average velocity between 87-94 mph. As Michael Baumann of FanGraphs first pointed out last month, look at the lack of velo separation among Martin's pitches. This is not neat and tidy. This is a confusing mess, and it's causing hitters all sorts of problems. They can't really time anything up.
So, a number of Martin's offerings are traveling in similar velocity bands on their way to the plate. They also look similar out of his hand, too. This has to do with spin direction. Martin's three fastballs play well off each other because he releases them out of the same axis -- between 12:15 and 1:15, if you think of a baseball like slices of a clock. By the time they get to the plate, they change spin profiles and have different movement profiles. They're doing markedly different things.
Batters try to read spin. But if a hitter is looking to pick up spin out of Martin's hand to try and identify the pitch, well, that's not going to help much here.
It's not just the fastballs that have turned Martin into an ace. His slider has a 51.2% swing-and-miss rate, which ranks fifth highest among all qualified pitcher/pitch type combos. He generates plus drop from his kick-changeup -- an innovative changeup variant where Martin uses his middle finger as a "spike" to generate outlier movement -- which is holding the opposition to a .161 batting average.
Everything is working together now. Martin's +13 pitching run value ranks in the 97th percentile of MLB. Along with a 92nd-percentile walk rate (5.3%), he touts an 80th-percentile strikeout rate (27.0%).
Pitchers with the largest increase in strikeout rate, 2025 to 2026
Among 240 qualifying pitchers
1. Daniel Lynch IV (KC): +12.5 points
2-T. Davis Martin (CWS): +9.7 points
2-T. Louis Varland (TOR): +9.7 points
4-T. Matthew Boyd (CHC): +9.6 points
4-T. Jake Irvin (WSH): +9.6 points
All of this helps Martin be deceptive, unpredictable and difficult to hit, even deep into games. Martin has pitched at least six innings while allowing two or fewer runs eight different times. No one has more such starts.
This success wouldn't be possible without the gradual changes Martin made to his arsenal. He's a completely different pitcher now, and he's an ace, too.