Did the White Sox Just Figure Out a Big Problem with Davis Martin?
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Davis Martin looked like the Chicago White Sox' next ace to begin the season.
The veteran came out firing to the tune of a 2.41 ERA over his first 13 starts of the year. He had multiple double-digit strikeout games to his name, doing a great job mixing up his pitches and keeping opponents on their toes.
In fact, once the All-Star rosters rolled around and Martin wasn't on the list, it felt like a genuine snub. Few starters had proven more consistent than him over the first couple of months of the year, and it was a big reason why the White Sox got off to their better-than-expected start.
Fast forward to Tuesday night, however, and the wheels had finally fallen all the way off. Martin had started to crash down to earth weeks prior. It all seemingly started when the Yankees posted 9 runs on June 16. Jump ahead to a little over a month later, and he was giving up 4 runs with relative ease. Still, nothing was as bad as this week's meeting with the Red Sox.
Boston scored 9 runs on Martin with three bombs. They started the night with a double before Caddanne Rafaela was hit by a pitch. The first out of the inning was recorded on a pop-out, but Willson Contreras would then single for a run. Masataka Yoshida would follow with a single to load the bases. Caleb Durbin would follow with a grand slam. As for Jarren Duran, he would immediately hit another home run.
After an Andruw Monasterio single, Martin would finally get out of the first inning with a double-play ball. It was as brutal a start as you could imagine, but it perfectly encapsulated just how south things have gone for Martin.
For a team with real postseason aspirations, the fall-off for Martin is a legitimate concern. They have been expecting him to be a stable rotation piece on a young roster. His early-season production is likely a big reason why they weren't more aggressive at the trade deadline to go out and snag another starter. But what happens if Martin's downward spiral continues? Where would the White Sox go from there?
Well, the good news is it sounds like they may have gotten to the root of Martin's struggles. The bad news is that they now have to try to fix it.
White Sox' Davis Martin Tipping Pitches?
Will Venable said after the Red Sox' 14-2 victory that the team realized Davis Martin had likely been tipping pitches, per Connor McKnight of CHSN. Catcher Kyle Teel was reportedly the one who noticed something was up mid-game from the dugout, bringing it to the manager's attention. Teel is currently sidelined with an injury.
“Some of the adjustments we made thereafter, we started getting a lot more weak contact, a lot more swing and miss,” Davis Martin told the Sun-Times after the game. “I definitely think there’s something to it. So something we have to go look at in between starts and see if we can clean it up.”
New catcher Joey Bart mentioned how he also realized that the Red Sox were capitalizing on almost every "wrinkle." He tipped his cap to them, though, stating that they have a history of reading pitchers very well.
Nonetheless, this is the last thing you want to hear, especially at this point in the season. If Martin suddenly has a tell, it's only going to be a matter of time before others begin to take advantage. Heck, who's to say this hasn't already been part of the problem?
Would it be rare for a tipping issue to go weeks without being caught? Yes, and it's not like every Martin start has been a true disaster. But, regardless, it's a pretty big development that the White Sox must get to the bottom of sooner rather than later. Even if we're strictly looking at this from a mental standpoint, you want Martin to take the mound with confidence that he's not showing too many of his cards.
Time will only tell if the White Sox can tackle the issue – let alone if it solves Martin's overall woes. But the White Sox will certainly have their fingers crossed, as Martin's next start will come against the Cleveland Guardians. Sitting only 3.0 games back of the AL Central lead, this upcoming series will hold a ton of weight.
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Elias Schuster is a sports journalist and content creator from the northern suburbs of Chicago. A graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he has covered the Bulls since 2019-20 and previously served as the editor of BN Bulls at Bleacher Nation. He has been the Publisher for Bulls On SI since December of the 2025-26 season. When he isn't obsessing over hoops, Elias spends his time obsessing over practically every other sport – much to his wife's dismay. He also loves strolling the streets of Chicago for the best cozy bar or restaurant to set up shop and write his next article.
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