PEORIA, Ariz. — Look around the White Sox roster, and if it’s a strength you’re searching for, it probably can be found in the starting rotation.
While that might not be saying much – the Sox were easily the worst hitting team in the majors last season and did little in the offseason to improve the offense, and the bullpen blew leads on a regular basis – the Sox’ young group of starting pitchers, along with veteran left-hander Martin Perez, looks good enough to hold its own.
The starters say they don’t know who will get the Opening Day nod but Jonathan Cannon, Martin Perez and Davis Martin have all thrown their hats in the ring. None is an obvious choice, which might speak to a weakness in what is thought to be a strength.
“I hope we’re a strength,” Martin said. “I hope the defense gets better, we hope the bullpen is there. Teams that win the World Series have four or five guys they can depend on and keep them in the game. I hope we can set the tone for 162 games and that it’s something we can take pride in.”
Sean Burke (1.42 ERA in four games in September including three starts) looks like he has a starting spot to lose, but Drew Thorpe is working his way back from a sore elbow. Shane Smith, a Rule 5 Draft pick who pitched two perfect innings with strikeouts of Cal Raleigh, J.P. Crawford and Mitch Garver after struggling in his first spring start, is in the mix, along with Bryse Wilson, Mason Adams, Jairo Iriarte, Nick Nastrini and Tyler Gilbert.
Cannon posted a 4.49 ERA in 23 games including 21 starts in his first season in 2024, Martin posted a 4.32 ERA in 11 games including 10 starts coming back from Tommy John surgery and Perez, who owns a 4.44 career ERA in 13 seasons, pitched to a 3.46 ERA down the stretch for the Padres.
As starters build up innings with each outing, they’ll push each other, encourage and also compete. Perez, a former All-Star with postseason experience, has embraced a leadership, mentoring role.
“It’s been good,” Cannon said. “We have Martín and then kind of all the young guys. I’ve really enjoyed picking [Perez’] brain. We have similar [pitch] mixes, even though he’s left-handed. So I’ve definitely asked him a lot about some of the sinkers to the off-handed hitters and how he approaches it and that kind of stuff. He’s very wise and he’s been around this game a long time.
“But the vibe of the starters is really good. We’ve all grown together over the last year and into this spring, so I’m looking forward to this group. We’ve got a really good group.”
Starters groups are like quarterbacks in football, Martin said.
“They’re notoriously tight because they spend a lot of time together, work together and go back and forth on scouting reports,” Martin said. “With us it’s no different. During a game you’ll see four of us on the end of the bench having fun one inning, talking about a pitch grip the next and a scouting report the next. There’s an organic cohesiveness that forms through the season.”
Perez, who turns 34 on April 4, is a new voice, which is always welcome. Perez voiced his view that the Sox are “contenders,” his way of saying play to win or go home.
“We don’t have a lot of names or superstars, but what we got is what we got and we gotta go out there and compete with the players we have,” Perez said. “It doesn’t matter how many superstars you have.
“We don’t care what the people say.”