GLENDALE, Ariz. — Chicago White Sox starter Davis Martin believes there are two sides to this early period of spring training.
“One side of it is getting back into your routine,” Martin told the Tribune on Wednesday. “You’ve got to get ready to throw every five days, so (you’re) kind of knocking the rust off your routine, getting that squared away.
“And then from the competitive side of things on the mound, just refining. You can have a really good offseason, but when you get guys in the box, everything speeds up a little bit. So controlling that and seeing how things play when you are back to your normal in-season velos, it’s something I need to work on and kind of refined as we go through the spring training.”
The right-hander was in that mode Thursday, facing several teammates such as Luis Robert Jr., Austin Slater and Dominic Fletcher in live batting practice on the backfields at Camelback Ranch. When the session was over, Martin received a fist-bump from manager Will Venable and joked with the hitters about not giving in when the count was in their favor.
Martin appreciates the moments even more this season after spending a portion of 2024 coming back from Tommy John surgery.
“Last year, it’s just like, hey, everybody knows that I’m not breaking camp — I’ve got a long way to go, so that was a challenge within itself,” Martin said. “But coming into this spring training, having a chance to compete for a top rotation spot, it’s exciting. Outside of baseball, we have a lot of things to look forward to this year, instead of, ‘Hey, we’ve got two or three more months of rehab, we’ve got to do this, we’ve got to do that.’
“So it’s exciting. It feels like my first spring training all over again, just because it feels like, ‘Hey, this is going to be a normal one.’ So it definitely makes me appreciate all the little things that I might have taken for granted in the past.”
Martin went 0-5 with a 4.32 ERA in 11 appearances in 2024 after being recalled from Triple-A Charlotte on July 27. He went winless in 10 starts despite allowing three runs or fewer seven times. The Sox scored two runs or fewer in nine of those 10 starts.
Martin put the year in perspective, recalling the road to recovery after Tommy John surgery in May 2023.
“(Tommy John’s) not a fun thing and I don’t really want anybody to ever go through it, but it’s a part of the game,” Martin said. “And I think if I told myself how that season would have gone post-rehab with the very minimal amount of setbacks during the buildup process, getting into the big leagues again, I don’t think I could have written a better script for myself, as far as the TJ rehab goes.
“But the perfectionist that I am, as we get to this spring and you look at last year, you’re like, ‘Man, there’s a lot of things that I can clean up.’ So, last year did feel a little magical from 14 months of hard work to realize that and be in the big leagues and make 10 starts in a row and be consistent. But this year, there’s just things that I want to do a lot better.”
Venable likes that mindset.
“He’s just a professional who wants to get better,” Venable said Thursday. “That’s what really sticks out with him. This guy is super competitive and wants to get better. He also has a great perspective on what things to work on and improve.”
Martin, 28, is 3-11 with a 4.61 ERA in 25 career outings (19 starts). He’s one of the more familiar faces on a pitching staff that has undergone several changes since his big-league debut in 2022. Martin is enjoying bonding with teammates old and new.
“It’s kind of a mix of guys that I’ve known most of my career and then guys that I’m like, ‘Hey, I’ve never met you before,’” Martin said. “I know the turnover from last year has been pretty prevalent, but I think the overall atmosphere and energy from the guys is great. Guys are getting along.
“We got the introductions out of the way and now we’re kind of seeing who each other is as we work out, as we compete against each other and it’s been phenomenal.”
Jared Shuster to start Saturday’s Cactus League opener
The Sox utilized Shuster mostly out of the bullpen last season. The left-hander also made four starts in 2024 and will be the starter Saturday for the Cactus League opener against the Chicago Cubs at Sloan Park.
“Excited to compete and be out there with the guys,” Shuster told the Tribune on Thursday morning.
He went 2-5 with a 4.30 ERA in 39 outings (four starts) for the Sox last season.
“The flexibility, the versatility is really attractive,” Venable said. “He can help in different ways. We’re going to go into it with him starting and trying to stretch out to be a starter, knowing he can adjust and we can utilize him in different ways.”
