KANSAS CITY, Mo. — White Sox right-hander Davis Martin has been doing this for a while, but not quite with this level of assurance.
Martin, 29 and the longest-tenured Sox pitcher, turned in his strongest start in his third outing of the season Friday against the Royals, striking out three with no walks in seven innings in a tough-luck 2-0 loss.
Martin’s strong introduction to his second full season has buoyed a rotation that sank fast in the first week, only to rebound through its second and third turns.
And for a veteran leader on the staff, it all comes down to knowing himself.
‘‘This is probably the best knowledge of my stuff,’’ said Martin, who made his debut with the Sox in 2022 before having Tommy John surgery. ‘‘Obviously, there’s still so much more that I feel like I can accomplish and so much more refining that I think I can do. But from this year to last year, I feel like I know what pitches are working, I know how to use them and then the second and third time through the lineup [how] I probably want to adjust and go from there.’’
It was the second consecutive quality start from Martin, who’s 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA, 15 strikeouts and four walks in 18 innings. There’s not much flashy about his 94 mph four-seamer, but a kick changeup he refined last season and a sinker opponents have hit only .091 against so far have kept hitters on edge.
Consistency with those pitches and a quick pace to boot might recall some other all-time Sox fan favorites. Martin made quick work of the Royals on a night in which counterpart Kris Bubic struck out 11 Sox in a clean one hour and 55 minutes. It was the fastest Sox game since July 6, 2015, when Chris Sale outdueled Mark Buehrle — then with the Blue Jays — in a cool one hour and 54 minutes.
‘‘Davis, that’s as good as we’ve seen him pounding the zone,’’ manager Will Venable said of a pitcher who often has flown under the radar. ‘‘I thought he had command of all his pitches. It was awesome.
‘‘He works so hard and puts himself in such a good position to continue to progress and do well. Every outing . . . it’s better and better. He has good stuff, throws strikes and he’s not scared. Good ingredients to have a good starting pitcher.’’
For his part, Martin still sees plenty of room for improvement.
‘‘It feels good,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s still so early. There’s a lot of good stuff that we can take from this, but there’s also a lot of things that I want to do better. I want to have better kill counts; I want to execute 0-2 better. Don’t have to do too much more. And don’t try to reinvent the wheel.’’
Offense has been hard to come by across the majors in early April, but Sox pitchers have rebounded from an atrocious first six games in which the staff stumbled to an 8.63 ERA. Entering play Saturday, the 2.25 ERA they had posted since April 3 was the second-best in MLB, with the starters’ collective mark of 1.19 leading the majors.
While Opening Day starter Shane Smith figures things out down at Triple-A Charlotte, left-hander Anthony Kay has posted a 2.45 ERA in his three outings, right-hander Erick Fedde is at 3.38 and right-hander Sean Burke has settled down to 3.60.
A key component of that positive trajectory is a tight-knit group getting closer for the seasonlong marathon, Martin said.
‘‘To be together for 10 [or] 12 hours a day, seven days a week, that camaraderie starts building at a quick pace,’’ he said. ‘‘I come in, and Anthony’s already busting my chops about how I gave up a home run. There’s a competitive, fun friendship thing there, and we’re doing a good job. Gotta keep doing it.’’