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GLENDALE, Ariz. \u2014 It seemed commonplace that White Sox right-hander Davis Martin had teammates Drew Thorpe, Shane Smith, Jonathan Cannon and Sean Burke at his ranch in San Angelo, Texas.<\/p>\n
Martin didn\u2019t see the abnormality. To him, he was hanging with his friends at his grandfather\u2019s ranch, where Martin spent much of his childhood working the fences in 100-degree weather.<\/p>\n
During the trip with his teammates, his his wife, Jenna, pulled him aside and said, \u2018You know these are major-league players, right? You do realize you have four MLB players [at the ranch], and you\u2019re an MLB player.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when it clicked for Martin.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou kind of [have a] big realization of, \u2018Oh my gosh, we have come a long way,\u201d Martin told the Sun-Times.<\/p>\n
Martin entered this offseason with more certainty than he\u2019s enjoyed throughout his major-league career. He was coming off a career-high 142 \u2154 innings pitched and 25 starts in 2025, and will likely be in the rotation \u2014 though manager Will Venable said the team is still \u201cworking out\u201d on who will follow after Opening Day starter Shane Smith, but acknowledged that Martin has an important role on the pitching staff.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Martin is] somebody guys gravitate to,\u201d Venable said. \u201cHe\u2019s come into his own as far as the vocal leadership. He\u2019s a guy we need on the field and in the clubhouse to be at his best.\u201d<\/p>\n
That comfort in knowing his role allowed Martin to tailor his offseason work. Instead of tinkering with his arsenal, he sharpened it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was nice to have the freedom to go out and really just refine my arsenal versus having to add a pitch that gets me into the rotation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When the offseason began, Martin went to work with PitchingWRX, a data-driven pitching facility in Oklahoma. Martin and PitchingWRX founder and head coach Alex Marney targeted Martin\u2019s lower-body mechanics as an area for improvement.<\/p>\n
Marney noticed that when things went awry for Martin it was because of over-rotating, and Marney wanted to work on keeping Martin linear toward the plate so there wasn\u2019t major upper-body rotation.<\/p>\n
\u201c[That way] every pitch can have more consistent release angles with everything towards the plate versus just flying open,\u201d Martin said, \u201cbecause last year, when it was good, it was good. When it was bad, it was bad from a command standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin said after his start Friday against the Cubs that he was starting to \u201cheat up.\u201d His offseason work with Marney on his mechanics and pitch sequencing was starting to lead to better results.<\/p>\n
\u201c[My] mechanics have clicked, usages have clicked \u2026[it\u2019s just about] repetition,\u201d said Martin, who threw four scoreless innings with four strikeouts and zero walks. \u201cEverybody talks about the flow of the game, so just feeling that out again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spring training results mean little in the grand scheme of things, especially in Arizona, where the ball flies. Temperatures are expected to rise to the triple digits in Arizona next week, when Martin is scheduled for his next start. But he\u2019s used to the heat, whether working on his grandfather\u2019s ranch or spending a summer in Arizona throwing live bullpens against Eloy Jimenez and Yoan Moncada. But those days seem far away for Martin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I blinked and I was just 22 trying to figure out how to be a big leaguer,\u201d Martin said. \u201cIt\u2019s cool just being around this long. It goes back to 2019 when I had an 8.00 ERA at one point in Low A. I would never have dreamed of getting this far.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n