White Sox righty Davis Martin could fill void of staff ace

With Opening Day starter and 2025 All-Star Shane Smith trying to recapture his form in the minors, the top spot in the White Sox’ rotation is there for the taking. As he prepares for his fourth start of the season Friday, Davis Martin is making a claim for it.

In 18 innings, Martin has a 2.50 ERA with 15 strikeouts and four walks. In his last start, Martin threw seven innings of two-run ball against the Royals, but the Sox’ bats — as they have for most of the season — offered no support in a 2-0 loss.

After pitching to a 4.10 ERA in 26 outings (25 starts) last season, his first full year in the majors, Martin is finding success keeping things simple.

“I’ve stopped thinking so much,” Martin told the Sun-Times. “I’ve gotten very close with my faith, and just giving up a lot of things that I can’t control and just focusing on the things that I can control. That’s helped me a ton.

“I’ve pitched since I was 9 years old, and a lot of times you have the answer. If you let your body just let it happen, get out of your own way. Really just dumb it down a lot. Sometimes you get too cerebral.”

Last season, Martin, the Sox’ 14th-round pick in 2018, relied on veteran Martin Perez for guidance. Perez, who agreed to a minor-league deal with the Braves this week, impressed upon Martin to “dumb it down” and read what the hitter is doing.

“If a guy’s leaning over trying to get to a slider, he’s susceptible to something hard in,” Martin said. “If you give yourself the ability to see that, you can make those adjustments on the fly. And Martin did a really good job of that. He’d throw a changeup, he’d see a guy reach out and touch it and then the next pitch was a cutter up and in, and it [led to] a ground ball.

“It’s an old-school way of doing it: less scouting report, more what you’re seeing [from] a hitter and try to be one step ahead of him.”

Martin will try to stay ahead of an Athletics team that features slugging catcher Shea Langeliers, who already has six home runs with a .960 OPS. But the A’s entered Thursday ranked 23rd in team hitting, three spots ahead of the Royals team that Martin mostly stymied.