CHICAGO -- White Sox right-hander Davis Martin enters the All-Star break with a 9-4 record and 3.41 ERA over 18 starts and 100 1/3 innings after suffering the defeat during a 5-0 setback to the Red Sox on Wednesday night at Rate Field.
If those numbers would have been presented to Martin back in Spring Training, the 29-year-old would have been ecstatic. But his 8-1 record with a 2.00 ERA through the end of May makes this work before the All-Star break a little tougher to break down.
“It's a really interesting place to be right now,” Martin said. “But I'm going to celebrate it. We're in a really good spot. Had some really good starts, had some really bad starts, but a lot to build off of. A lot to be excited about in the second half.
“Going into the break, enjoy some time with my family and time away from baseball. Celebrate what this first half was and get ready to go for the second half.”
Martin is not only one of the top members of the starting rotation for the American League Central-leading White Sox, but he’s also a true leader. He’s seen the lowest of lows, as one of 13 players from the 121-loss season of 2024 still in the organization, and now is seeing the climb to what the team hopes is the highest of highs.
With four games to play before the White Sox get a breather, Martin’s squad holds a one-game lead over the Guardians, a two-game lead over the Twins and sits 5 1/2 games ahead of the preseason favorite from Detroit. Chicago’s 47-44 record might not be pure championship material, but it’s a significant step forward after three straight seasons of 100-plus losses.
That team excellence surpasses anything Martin individually accomplishes.
“One hundred percent,” Martin said. “We're still doing a lot of good things, and I credit that to Sean Burke and some of the other starters picking up slack. That's the fun thing to think about.
“We really all haven't been on at the same time, and that's going to be a fun thing if we ever all start clicking at the same time. It'd be a really tough rotation and a really hard team to beat.”
While pitching at Rate Field this season, Martin entered Wednesday with a 5-0 record and a 0.88 ERA over seven starts, allowing four earned runs in 41 innings. Martin retired the first six Boston hitters on Wednesday before yielding three runs in the third and two in the fourth to finish his night.
“Mechanically, I felt really, really in sync in those first two innings,” Martin said. “Felt like they were really crisp, clean and then kind of goes downhill from there. There were a lot of positive takeaways, but overall just not good.”
“Just the fastball command for him,” White Sox manager Will Venable said of Martin. “He’s got so many pitches, and when he’s in the zone with his fastball and aggressive with it, it really opens up everything else for him.”
This White Sox squad prides itself on being in every game, win or lose -- not to mention dominating at home with a 24-8 record over their last 32 at Rate Field. But the Red Sox (42-48) have outscored the White Sox by a 13-1 margin in these two games, ending a franchise-record run of 10 straight home series victories.
For the first time since the Rays swept the White Sox from April 14-16, the White Sox have lost three straight at home. Maybe it’s the aftereffects of a tough four-game split at Progressive Field against the Guardians, who have lost their last two to the Twins and dropped four straight.
Maybe it’s just a rough patch every team experiences over a long season.
"It’s going to happen. It’s baseball. A lot of ups, a lot of downs,” White Sox designated hitter Randal Grichuk said. “You gotta ride them out. All it takes is one big hit and a big inning and it can turn. So, definitely flush this one and go back at it tomorrow.”
Sometime in Toronto or Texas after the break is the next time Martin will get back at it. He was overlooked as a worthy All-Star selection, but wasn’t trying to prove a point Wednesday.
“No, win the game. Win the game. The All-Star thing is going to take care of itself,” Martin said. “It's so far out of my control. I let myself have a day to be upset about it, but after that it was, ‘Get back to work and get ready to try to win this game.’ That's nowhere close to my brain.”