GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jonathan Cannon approved of the pick. Davis Martin did, too.
The runners-ups in the White Sox Opening Day starter derby won by long shot Sean Burke, the rookie with four major league games to his name, said they were all about it.
“Obviously he deserves it. He’s a great pitcher and I’m looking forward to watching him on Opening Day,” Cannon said. “Super happy for him.”
“Dude, I’m pumped,” said Martin, who hasn’t allowed a run this spring. “Talk about a guy who comes in and does the right things every day to be able to compete every five days. I could not be happier for Sean.”
Pitching coach Ethan Katz reiterated Monday that Burke, with his 39% strikeout rate against right-handed hitters in four games in September, is a good matchup against the Angels and Mike Trout, Jose Soler and others, possibly including former Sox shortstop Tim Anderson.
He also likes Burke’s “enormous upside” and moxie.
“Sure it surprised everybody because nobody was expecting that,” Katz said, “but he’s more than ready for the situation and he’ll pass with flying colors.”
Ethan Katz on Burke, etc pic.twitter.com/lWJkFcGICf
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) March 17, 2025
Katz and manager Will Venable declined to say what order Cannon, Martin and Martin Perez would follow Burke or who the fifth starter is. Rule 5 Draft pick Shane Smith and Bryse Wilson are possibilities, but three off days in the first 12 remove the need for five early on.
In any case, Katz is bullish on his rotation and it would do the Sox, coming off a record 121-loss season, well to see that he has valid reasons.
“We’re going to be really surprising to most people in the industry,” Katz said, “how good they’re going to be. I’m really excited about our rotation.”
Cannon giving up three runs on six hits and three walks over 3 1/3 innings to the Giants Monday, raising opposing hitters’ totals to 22 and the ERA to 10.32 in 11 1/3 spring innings, took some of the shine off Katz’ statement, which was based as much on what Cannon did last season — 4.49 ERA over 23 games including 21 starts.
“Right now [he’s] just trying to avoid thigh-high,” Katz said. ”You’re either up or you’re down. The sweeper’s been really consistent right now. And we’re just trying to get the changeup dialed in, which he’s done a lot better with and obviously the cutter’s been always good for him so far vs. lefties. So just trying to get his arsenal dialed in a little bit more, from a movement standpoint, location standpoint.”
“Pretty bad, honestly,” Cannon said Monday. “This whole spring training, just kind of going
through it a little bit. I feel like the stuff is there. Just the command has been a little bit off. Still getting the feel for some things.”
If Cannon was the favorite for the opener going into camp, he may have lost it on his spring performance, even though Cactus League outings are long forgotten two weeks into the season. He would have a hard time justifying himself.
It was a reminder that Katz, his bullish take on the rotation notwithstanding, has his hands full.
“I’m really excited about what we have,” said Katz, who only three and four years ago was overseeing staffs built to win but now is in rebuild mode. “Is it different from the standpoint of we knew who our starters might be and a [having] more bullpen pieces? Sure. But we have a great group of guys that are hungry to learn, experiment, try some new things and then going out there and applying it, it’s fun to see. They’ve been doing great and they’ve been looking to kind of get better each day.”