White Sox clubhouse has a new dean: 'My gosh ... I'm an old guy'
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CHICAGO -- There’s no rocking chair being shipped to Glendale, Ariz., or to Rate Field in Chicago to put in front of Davis Martin’s locker.
But even without this symbol of getting older, the right-hander begins the 2026 season with the longest White Sox service time by debut date of anyone on the roster. Martin turned 29 on Jan. 4.
“I do feel very young -- that’s the funny thing,” Martin said during SoxFest Live festivities this weekend at the Ramova Theatre. “My wife and I always joke -- we’ll look at my son, and I’ll be like, ‘I’m a dad.’ I feel like I’m 23.’
“It’s fun. It’s interesting. It just shows you how fast this game can go and where we can be at in a few years. It’s cool.”
Since his Major League debut on May 17, 2022, when he struck out seven over five innings during the second game of a doubleheader in Kansas City, Martin has seen a little bit of everything. That '22 team was trying to repeat as American League Central champion but fell from contender to mediocrity during an 81-81 season.
Martin did not pitch in the Majors in 2023 and made only three Triple-A starts before Tommy John surgery. He returned in ’24 to the latest rebuild for 11 big league games (10 starts) and then made his way to the “cool kids” starters’ wall of lockers during Spring Training ’25, as Martin joked, becoming a 25-start steadying force in the rotation.
“Yeah, I think ’22, highs and lows of that, of trying to compete with a team you need to win now,” Martin said. “In ’23, you’re hurt; ’24 is ’24. And then last year, kind of making the runway to get ready to go and build the culture and how we are as a team.
“What’s great is that I saw what worked for me and what I needed from an older player’s perspective and what I didn’t need. Taking that into account, and when people ask me questions, that’s great. But at the end of the day, I just want what’s best for everyone in our locker room. So it’s cool to kind of be the older guy in the room even though I still have a lot of stuff to learn myself.”
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Although he’s an intense competitor, Martin has an easygoing and entertaining nature that makes him a galvanizing presence. That was seen in Martin’s offseason invitation for rotation comrades Drew Thorpe, Sean Burke, Shane Smith and Jonathan Cannon to visit his family’s Eagle Ranch in Texas.
Their journey was laid out at the end of the 2025 regular season and came to fruition from Nov. 17-21, receiving some national attention after the fact. But that media component wasn’t in Martin’s mind when the group discussed the idea.
“For us, I think it was really natural,” Martin said. “I wanted to hang out with my friends. So I texted them, and it was like, “All right, we’ll be there’’ -- like anyone else who wants to hang out with their friends. It just kind of shows the media and Chicago fans, that’s who we are. That’s what we want to do and how we are as a group.
“We’ve had our starter group message firing off for the past four months all offseason even when we weren’t together. We are always talking to each other, asking how each other is doing and calling each other and checking in. It’s a very natural thing and doesn’t feel forced. That’s why I think the culture is in a good spot.”
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“Culture” is a word reinforced by Martin during the encouraging 28-37 second half for the White Sox last season, providing youthful hope despite a third straight campaign with 100-plus losses. It’s something set by manager Will Venable and developed by the players.
Martin remains at the center, behind his 4.10 ERA over 142 2/3 innings in ’25 and his now-veteran wisdom. He became the dean of the White Sox clubhouse when Luis Robert Jr. was traded to the Mets, edging Lenyn Sosa by one month.
“I woke up to the news, and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. Here we are. I’m an old guy,’” Martin said. “But I think we have the culture set up to where that talent can go in and thrive. They don’t have to prove themselves to the locker room, to anybody.
“All of us have their backs, and they have our backs. It allows them to go out and play and have fun. That’s all we want to do. We want to win together, compete together and support each other.”