We love a good redemption story (and as White Sox fans after this season, we better), and on the South Side in 2024 you can’t get much better than Davis Martin.

He was an opportunistic rotation cog in 2022, making the best of two main stints on that .500 team that represented the premature end of the contention-window dream. And until a final, forgettable start against the Twins to end the season (five outs, nine earned runs), Davis was pitching to a very respectable 3.65 ERA as a rookie.

Rather than build on that for 2023, the White Sox went out and did evil empire stuff like sign a pitcher-abuser, which contributed to pushing Martin back to the minors to start the year. His Charlotte Knights line was tight, but his arm structure wasn’t, and after just three outings Martin succumbed to Tommy John surgery.

After just seven minors/rehab starts, Martin made it back to the South Side about as quickly as humanly possible, getting his first taste back in the bigs on July 27, and with success in that pen effort drew his first start August 2. That game, again against his personal horror-show club Minnesota, was not the best choice of rotation debut, but his two efforts since have been tight, and Martin is sporting a shiny 3.00 ERA along with a Brian Bannister-mentored pitch mix that is pushing the righthander toward a higher ceiling than he ever had during his first White Sox run.

2024 South Side Sox Players of the Week
Eloy Jiménez (February 23-March 2)
Eloy Jiménez (March 3-11)
Chuckie Robinson (March 12-19)
Michael Soroka (March 20-27)
Garrett Crochet (March 28-April 3)
Gavin Sheets (April 4-11)
The Fans (April 12-18)
Korey Lee (April 19-24)
Tommy Pham (April 25-May 2)
Garrett Crochet (May 3-8)
Garrett Crochet (May 9-16)
Corey Julks (May 17-22)
Garrett Crochet (May 23-30)
Paul DeJong (May 31—June 6)
Garrett Crochet (June 7-13)
Erick Fedde (June 14-21)
Drew Thorpe (June 22-26)
Luis Robert Jr. (June 27-July 4)
Drew Thorpe (July 5-11)
Korey Lee (July 12-25)
Brooks Baldwin (July 26-31)
Davis Martin (August 1-7)

Top 10 MVP Standings
Garrett Crochet (125.8)
Korey Lee (50.1)
Jonathan Cannon (42.6)
Drew Thorpe (40.4)
The Fans (39.8)
Chris Flexen (25.1)
Gavin Sheets (23.2)
Nicky Lopez (18.9)
Danny Mendick (15.5)
Corey Julks (14.7)

Top 10 Cold Cat Standings
Pedro Grifol (-124.7)
Luis Robert Jr. (-37.7)
Andrew Benintendi (-37.4)
John Brebbia (-37.1)
The Offense (-31.5)
Andrew Vaughn (-25.0)
The Entire Roster (-24.7)
Steven Wilson (-24.1)
Jerry Reinsdorf (-24.0)
Dominic Fletcher (-19.7)

With the surprise (?) firing of Pedro Grifol, this will be the last week he’s on the list … which means we’ve got quite a fight for Cold Cat on our hands. Sure, Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Benintendi and John Brebbia have the inside track, but with six weeks left it’s anyone’s title to win.

Writer Standings

If you’re interested in seeing more of Mitch’s work, or if you’d like to purchase original drawings or prints, contact him via Twitter (@soxsketcher), Instagram (@southsidesharpie), or by e-mail at southsidesharpie@gmail.com. Thanks for supporting local artists!

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Davis Martin art: Mitch Ransdell/Sox Populi