Chicago White Sox announce Sean Burke will be the Opening Day starter

The Chicago White Sox have officially named Sean Burke as their Opening Day starter after a week of anticipation.

Burke isn’t the obvious pick for the Sox Opening Day starter. He was only recently named the fourth pitcher in the Sox’s rotation and he’s had a standard start to spring training with a 4.15 ERA and four earned runs over 8.2 innings pitched. Although Burke hasn’t been lights-out like Davis Martin, who was suspected to get the job since the beginning of March, he has one key advantage.

In his first year in the Majors, Burke looked like a veteran.

In four appearances, three of which he started, he held a 1.42 ERA and held opponents to just three earned runs. He amassed an impressive 22 strikeouts and limited hitters to a .174 batting average. Though his sample size is small, Burke pitched as if he didn’t battle rotator cuff tendinitis in 2023. Burke’s last year gives him enough ethos to be the Opening Day starter.

Manager Will Venable is confident that Burke will get the job done on March 27 against the Angels. He shared in an interview, “We probably had a few guys that were great candidates, but for us, as we were looking at things strategically to get off to a good start, we couldn’t be more excited to name Sean our Opening Day starter. … For us to get off to the best start and do the best thing for the White Sox, we’re excited that Sean’s going to take the ball for us on day one”

Among the four Opening Day starting pitcher candidates, Burke is the biggest dark horse. While he’s the least experienced, he has the tools needed to be successful and has just as high of a floor as Martin and Jonathan Cannon. Many Sox fans were skeptical of Garrett Crochet last year, who hadn’t started a single game before he was named the Opening Day starter, and to say that he exceeded expectations would be minimizing his performance. Burke has the potential to wow fans and follow a similar trajectory as Crochet.

Leaning on young talent will be the name of the game for the Sox this season, and Opening Day should be no different. Let’s hold off on the premature judgment and see what Burke and the rest of the young roster can do.