ATLANTA — It turns out not all surprise Opening Day starters follow the same trajectory as Garrett Crochet.
Five months after the White Sox unexpectedly handed their first start of the season to right-hander Sean Burke, they sent him to Triple-A Charlotte on Monday to rediscover his form after a string of subpar starts.
Burke joined right-hander Jonathan Cannon in Charlotte a little more than a week after Cannon’s demotion from the big-league roster, as the Sox’ stable of young starters endures the growing pains of general manager Chris Getz’s rebuild.
While Crochet blossomed into a Cy Young Award-contending superstar after getting the Sox’ Opening Day start last season, Burke’s developmental setback doesn’t mean he’s falling out of the team’s plans, Getz said.
‘‘We believe in him; he will be back,’’ Getz said in the Sox’ dugout before their series opener against the Braves. ‘‘In the meantime, we want him to go down there and really dial in on these areas that we feel like are going to take him to the next level.’’
Burke (4-10, 4.28 ERA) labored in the last month, completing five innings only once in his last five starts. He couldn’t escape the fourth Saturday against the Royals, giving up three runs and five hits.
In Burke’s first full season after appearing in four games with the Sox in 2024, his numbers aren’t all that ugly. He leads the team with 110 strikeouts in 20 starts (plus four appearances after openers) and hasn’t given up more than three earned runs in a start since July 7.
‘‘[But] there’s also some areas that have been masked a bit,’’ Getz said, namely that Burke has been inefficient, falling behind hitters as his pitch counts often have soared past 80 early in games.
‘‘I feel like I’m not able to kind of finish guys as quickly as I would like to,’’ Burke said Saturday. ‘‘The last two starts, it’s just been embarrassing how I’m throwing the ball.’’
The Sox can’t afford much more of that as they look to keep young arms healthy in the waning weeks of another rebuilding season. Left-hander Martin Perez will take Burke’s spot in the rotation alongside right-handers Davis Martin, Aaron Civale and Shane Smith. That will give the front office more time to see what they have in right-hander Yoendrys Gomez, whom the Sox claimed off waivers from the Dodgers.
‘‘Probably could have done this earlier, but there was such a need here,’’ manager Will Venable said of his taxed rotation and bullpen. ‘‘He’s got to get better. For us and the health of our organization moving forward, we need Sean Burke to be the best version of himself.’’
Cannon has struggled in two starts since packing his bags for Charlotte on Aug. 8. He gave up four runs in five innings Sunday, serving up two home runs.
Getz wants both pitchers to work on ‘‘attacking out of the gate.’’
‘‘They are not overpowering types of guys,’’ Getz said. ‘‘They have to attack and keep the defense sharp and work deeper into games to allow our bullpen to stay strong and available for that game or future games.’’
After Burke got the news of his demotion after the Sox’ loss Sunday in Kansas City, Martin pulled him aside in the clubhouse to remind he’s not the first guy to hit an early-career speed bump.
‘‘I got optioned six, seven, eight times my first year, and I’m like: ‘You’ve just got to accept it for what it is. You’ve gotta go down there and work on the stuff that you need to work on and really focus on that because it’s purely development at this point. You just can’t wallow in misery,’ ’’ Martin said.
‘‘If you’re not learning in this game, you’re losing. He’s got the stuff to be right back up here, so it’s only a matter of time.’’