CBS Sports recently reported that Davis Martin is closing in on being the Chicago White Sox Opening Day starter.

Martin would open the 2025 season on March 27 against the Angels after he secured his spot in the starting rotation last week.

Based on tenure and stats alone, Martin isn’t the obvious pick.

He has only pitched in 25 games, 19 being starts, in the last three years. When he returned from missing the 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery, he posted a middling 4.32 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in 2024.

Compared to veteran Martín Pérez, who has 269 starts under his belt and pitched similarly last year with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres, seeing Martin kick off the season may come as a shock.

But he has made significant progress in the offseason to warrant the honor.

This offseason, Martin has quietly enhanced his pitching by tweaking his changeup.

In an interview with Chicago Sports Network reporter Chuck Garfien, he divulged that he switched from a conventional changeup to a kick change after Bryan Bannister, director of pitching, and Ethan Katz, pitching coach, approached him.

Martin said, “So Katz comes and watches me play catch [with it] and I throw [a] first [and] second one, didn’t feel great. [The] third one, it just bit, it went. … And then we get on the mound, [it bit], [it bit], [it bit]. And we all kind of look at each other and we’re like, ‘We got something here.’ It was a pitch that … immediately clicked. … Not only was the pitch good, but it really fit into my arsenal.”

The kick change is now his best pitch.

This one is for the baseball nerds.

White Sox right-hander Davis Martin breaks down how he throws his “kick change”. #TheWhiteSoxPodcast | @ChuckGarfien pic.twitter.com/7bulJOCoFv

— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) March 3, 2025

Martin’s improved pitch arsenal is paying off.

In his two strong starts, he tossed four scoreless innings and struck out five. Lo and behold, his kick change was responsible for two of those punchouts. Martin’s best outing this spring was against the Dodgers, where he caught reigning NL MVP Shohei Ohtani looking during an immaculate inning.

Martin’s path to Opening Day this year eerily resembles Garrett Crochet’s last year. Crochet was one season removed from Tommy John surgery before he was named the Opening Day starter. Unlike Martin, however, Crochet had even less starting experience. Before 2024, Crochet had only pitched out of the bullpen. Hopefully, Martin’s similar trajectory will lead to him becoming Chicago’s next ace.

The Sox may not be able to completely replace Crochet, but they might have found someone with the same caliber. Martin may be the next star pitcher for the Sox, proving that skill and potential outweigh experience.