Chicago White Sox Starter Davis Martin To Begin Rehab Assignment In Triple-A

CHICAGO –– White Sox pitcher Davis Martin joked that the only nice thing about previously undergoing Tommy John surgery is that he now he knows what that injury feels like.

So when he was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right forearm strain, retroactive to June 17, he wasn't concerned about another long-term injury.

"This wasn't anything near what that was," Martin said on June 25. "Some just soft tissue stuff that we felt like there was no reason to push through. Give the body some time to recover and get ready to go for the second half and hopefully before the All-Star break, get a couple of starts in and then take off."

Martin won't pitch for the White Sox before the All-Star break, but he seems to be on track to return shortly after. The right-hander is scheduled to pitch on Wednesday and Sunday for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights as part of an injury rehab assignment. The Knights begin a six-game road trip on Tuesday against the Memphis Redbirds.

The White Sox have six more home games before the All-Star break, a home stand that concludes Sunday at 1:10 p.m. CT against the Cleveland Guardians. They resume game action on July 18 in Pittsburgh, the first of a six-game road trip against the Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays.

Martin, 28, is in his third major league season, but he has already pitched 80.2 innings –– the most since he threw 88 innings 2021 in the minor leagues. Because of that, he considers his latest injury to be wear and tear, as opposed to a mechanical issue causing an injury. It's also a learning lesson for the rest of his career.

"Yeah, we throw a ball over our head. The reality is and we talked about it in spring training, this is my first full season," Martin said. "I take it as from here on out, every year around 60-70 innings, double down and take care of yourself. This is when your body starts hitting that first little bump of fatigue and soreness. I'm just taking it as a learning curve for not only next year but the following years after. Just how your body reacts in a normal full season and be able to take that and make sure we don't have this blip or anything like that from here on out."

Martin prides himself on showing up every five days and doing his job on the mound, so he didn't like having to go on the injured list. No pitcher does. At the same time, he appreciates the White Sox organization for taking care of him and sitting him down to discuss the need to balance health and performance throughout the season.

Martin had been a steady, reliable piece to the White Sox rotation prior to his injury. Through 14 outings, he posted a 3.79 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP with 19 walks and 53 strikeouts. That included seven quality starts and nine appearances with at least six innings.

Those are career-low numbers in ERA and WHIP for the former 14th-round draft pick, who hopes to continue that success once he returns from his rehab assignment.

"This is probably the best I've felt in my career," Martin said. "Just the consistency of the stuff, the consistency of the mechanics and everything and knowing what I'm going to have every week in, week out, not the guessing game of 'Is this pitch going to be there? Is that pitch going to be there?' Just knowing that I'm going to have my stuff pretty much every time I go out there, it's great for the confidence. I think just the execution and everything about it has been phenomenal this year."