On September 15th, Davis Marin threw 5.1 innings against the Cleveland Guardians, allowing one earned run on four hits and a walk, including a solo home run. It was not the most dominant outing in baseball by any means; it wasn't even Martin at his best. But it's a performance any manager would find acceptable, and for White Sox fans, it's a welcome relief after Martin's brutal month of August.
It doesn't seem to be noise, either--this was Martin's third game since returning from the injured list, and all three have been successful. He's lasted at least five innings in each outing, and he hasn't given up more than one earned run--or walked more than two batters-- in any of those games. His ERA for September is 1.13.
Davis Martin's rough summer seems to be at an end
Martin's first game post-injury was on September 2nd, and prior to that he hadn't pitched since August 13th. He missed about a month due to what was, apparently, a blister on his finger. However, his games had gotten almost comically depressing prior to that. On August 4th, he gave up nine runs in five innings against the Red Sox; on the 9th, he pitched just one inning before a rain delay, which caused both starting pitchers to be replaced when the game resumed (and he still managed to give up two runs in that inning). It looked like he would finally have a normal game on August 13th, but instead he was ejected from the game in the third inning, after he knocked a batter's helmet off.
White Sox pitcher Davis Martin is ejected after consecutive pitches end up near Sal Stewart's head pic.twitter.com/ROVRRCfrjk
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 13, 2026
While his August was almost unimaginably bad, Martin's struggles had been going on longer than that. He had a 6.00 ERA in July, and a 5.68 in June, per Baseball Savant. Prior to that, his ERA was below 3.00 every month. His summer struggles made it difficult to envision trusting him in a playoff game, but that may be starting to shift.
The White Sox have ranged from "mostly bad" to "historically bad" the past couple seasons, but at least they usually had an ace pitcher. In 2024, they had Garrett Crochet and Jonathan Cannon; in 2025, they had Shane Smith. The problem has been keeping those pitchers. Crochet was traded to the Red Sox, which was disappointing but not surprising. But both Cannon and Smith saw their production fall off a cliff after their debut seasons, and both are currently playing in Triple-A.
Smith was supposed to be the White Sox ace again this year after starting Opening Day. After his demotion, Martin was the player who, unexpectedly, took over his role. The only question was whether he'd keep it up. Despite a strong start, he kept outperforming his expected stats--the 1.41 ERA in April and 2.05 ERA in May weren't really sustainable, although to be fair, he did put up a 1.03 and 0.88 WHIP, respectively, in those two months.
When Martin started to crater in June, everyone hoped he'd get past his struggles, and he was still viewed as the team's ace. But eventually, it was hard to ignore that he'd been bad longer than he was good. His season felt over between his awful August and subsequent injury, but now he's back and he looks much more like his previous self.
It's too early to say anything for certain, and there are still some reasons to worry about Martin's success down the stretch. He pitched behind an opener on the 15th, with Chris Murphy pitching ahead of him. He also hasn't completed a six-inning game since returning. But he made proper starts in his first two September games, and did just fine with them. Using an opener was more of a precaution than anything else, and not something Martin likely needed.
Getting 5.0-5.2 innings really isn't so bad from a starter in this day and age. I'd like to see more from him, and he was regularly pitching six or seven full innings in April and May, but this is a good start. His 1.06 WHIP is good, too; he's actually limiting damage and not allowing many base-runners.
The real question is whether he'll keep it up. The season is winding down, and the White Sox remain locked in a tight AL Central battle. Martin might not get many more starts, so hopefully he'll perform well in his remaining games. That would help him secure a rotation spot next year, and it would give the White Sox the kind of pitching they need to make a run this Postseason.
Add us as a preferred source on Google