Column: Davis Martin - not quite an overnight sensation - is opening eyes for the Chicago White Sox
Davis Martin seems like an overnight sensation, but it's just an optical illusion.
The Chicago White Sox ace - who was tied for the major-league lead in wins through Friday with a 7-1 record and ranked seventh with a 2.04 ERA - came into the season with a 10-21 career record and 4.32 ERA since his big-league debut four years ago in May 2022.
Martin began his major-league career at the beginning of the downfall of the Rick Hahn rebuild, then missed the 2023 season and most of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery, making last year his first full season as a starter.
Now he seems like a shoo-in for the All-Star Game. At SoxFest in January, Martin joked about having the longest tenure of any Sox player.
"I went in and tried to get my handicapped sticker," he said. "They said, ‘Get out of here, you're 29, you're not that old.' It's crazy. It just shows how fast life goes and the turnover in major-league baseball, how quick it is.
"I'm ready to be whatever this team asks of me, and at the same time, I know where I'm at in my service time. I still have a lot of time to learn and be a better player, and I'm going to continue to learn and ask from older guys that are better than me. It's a continuing education in baseball. You've never got it figured out."
Martin is a quick learner and one of the big reasons for the Sox turnaround. He's a good role model for players who expect to make it big in their early 20s and cash in with a huge contract. Humility goes a long way in baseball.
Martin is making only $789,900 this season and won't be eligible for free agency until after 2030, meaning the Sox have control of him for four more years. Hopefully they’ll reward him instead of trading him before he hits the market, like they did with Dylan Cease, Garrett Crochet and others.
Time for something completely different?
It's not enough for the Chicago Cubs to call up prospects Pedro Ramírez and Kevin Alcántara. Now manager Craig Counsell has to find a way to play them.
“Look, I think we’ve got to do something different,” Counsell said Friday after their sixth straight loss.
He did that Saturday by putting Pete Crow-Armstrong in the leadoff spot and inserting Michael Conforto in left field in place of the slumping Ian Happ. But why not play the kids?
Alcántara had 15 home runs, 32 RBIs, a .567 slugging percentage and a .906 OPS in 41 games with Triple-A Iowa, the third-most home runs in the minors. Ramírez was hitting .312 with nine home runs at Iowa.
Both of them pinch-hit in Saturday’s 3-0 loss to the Houston Astros, the Cubs’ seventh straight defeat. Crow-Armstrong went 1-for-4 - one of only three Cubs hits - as Counsell's changes couldn’t keep them from falling to 0-5 on the homestand and getting loudly booed after the final out.
Counsell said Ramírez probably would have a "shorter stint," which suggests he'll be back at Iowa when Matt Shaw returns from the injured list. With the Cubs offense struggling, it's puzzling to hear Ramírez won't get much of a shot - especially with Moisés Ballesteros in a deep slump, hitting .059 (3-for-51) since April 28.
Nicky Lopez, a defensive-minded player, was a good clubhouse presence but played in only four games and went 0-for-5 before being designated for assignment Saturday.
Counsell could’ve used a decent bat off the bench in many of these recent losses.
Wemby and the sky hook
The greatest shot creation in NBA history was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's sky hook, which few centers have been able to replicate, much less master. Watching 7-foot-4 San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama get mauled in the playoffs, you have to wonder when he's going to develop a sky hook of his own.
With a 7-9 wingspan, Wembanyama would seem nearly impossible to stop in the post. He said a few years ago he wanted to master the sky hook, but he seems more interested in being a 3-point shooter, like every other modern big man. Abdul-Jabbar once said "it's not a hard shot to learn," but no one takes the time or has interest.
“It teaches you how to use footwork, feet and hands, how to use the backboard,” he said. “Guys who can play with their back to the basket, that's a valuable guy, not somebody you can just discard. That's somebody who can win games."
But no one wants to do it in the modern era, when most big men want to play like they’re shooting guards.
It's too late for this season, but hopefully Wembanyama can add a hook to his repertoire next season. It's fascinating to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder put a wing on Wemby on the perimeter, as they did with Jalen Williams in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, along with big man Isaiah Hartenstein inside.
The best defensive team in the NBA keeps proving that defense wins games - and that no one is unstoppable.
Non sequiturs
The Cubs not acknowledging the death of Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis at Wrigley Field this week shows you how little the team’s owners care about the city’s rich baseball history. … I’m guessing the Bears will keep floating that lakefront stadium idea until the first shovel goes into the ground for their Arlington Heights stadium. … Did anyone else notice the uncanny resemblance between the Sox fan who heckled Pete Crow-Armstrong at Rate Field and Denise Swerski, the waitress and “Miss South Side of Chicago” in the “Saturday Night Live” Superfans sketches?
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This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 6:24 AM.