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Chicago White Sox pitcher Adrian Houser (57) throws against the Kansas City Royals at Rate Field. Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Adrian Houser Pitches Through Sickness As Chicago White Sox Defeat Royals 4-1

Originally posted on Chicago White Sox on SI
By Jack Ankony | Last updated Jun 7, 2025 8:02 PM ET

CHICAGO –– Saturday wasn't the first time Adrian Houser felt uneasy while pitching.

He vomited during outings with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018 and 2019, and it almost happened again in his fourth start with the White Sox. Dealing with a sickness since Wednesday morning, Houser squatted down in discomfort after a foul ball in the sixth inning. But this time, he kept it down.

White Sox manager Will Venable and assistant athletic trainer Josh Fallin walked out to the mound to check on Houser, who eventually decided he could continue pitching. Houser walked Vinnie Pasquantino two pitches later, but he blew a fastball by Salvador Perez for a strikeout to end the sixth.

Going through similar situations in the past, Houser has learned to have a sense of humor about it.

"I was running out of gas there in the last inning, almost had breakfast come up," Houser said postgame. "It would have been the third time. So I passed that. I'm sure some Chicago fans wanted to see a puke and rally, but I was able to get past that and get out of the inning."

"It was super windy out on the field, and all the pollution and all the smoke and stuff in the air. I woke up Wednesday morning and was not feeling good. Been attacking it ever since, so hopefully it'll be gone here in the next day or two."

The sickness didn't seem to affect Houser, who tossed six innings with one earned run allowed in a 4-1 win over the Kansas City Royals. That lowered his ERA to 1.48 across his first 24.1 innings with the White Sox.

Not once, not twice, but three times pic.twitter.com/K3V2h9jetI
— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) June 7, 2025

The 32-year-old right-hander has been an impressive find for the White Sox front office, which signed Houser to a one-year, $1.35 million deal on May 20.

He had been pitching for Triple-A Round Rock, where he had a 5.03 ERA in 39.1 innings. But he opted out of his contract with the Texas Rangers organization, believing that adjustments he made in the offseason and performances in the minors would be enough to test free agency and make it back to the big leagues.

Houser has made a new notable improvements since last season, when he had a 5.84 ERA in 69.1 innings as a starter and a reliever for the New York Mets.

"Just being ahead in the strike zone and throwing quality pitches," Houser said. "I think that's been a huge part for me. I've been able to use all my pitches and throw them in the zone and get hitters to swing, versus being around the zone and them being able to take, falling behind and then they get to hit their pitch. Now I'm trying to get ahead, force them to swing and hit my pitch and try to get them out early in the count."

Chase Meidroth and Tim Elko provided run support with home runs, and Edgar Quero added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Kyle Teel also added two hits in his second big league game.

As a nine-year MLB veteran, Houser has been impressed by those four rookies.

"They're coming up here and they're ready," Houser said. "They're not scared. They're not timid. They're not scared of the big lights. Sometimes it gets the best of you, but these guys are coming up here, they're ready to go. They're putting the work in every day and they're locked in. So it's great to see. Like I told the guys, this is a good ball club. The record doesn't reflect that right now, but this team's a really good team."

With four wins in their last five games, the White Sox improved to 22-43. Houser thinks this recent stretch is a sign of things to come.

"The potential's there for sure," Houser said. "Just kind of keep attacking the small things, staying on top of everything that everybody's doing, and at the end of the day I think this team's will be in a very good spot at the end of the season."

This article first appeared on Chicago White Sox on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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