The White Sox announced that they have recalled right-hander José Urquidy and left-hander Tyler Schweitzer. In corresponding moves, they have optioned right-hander Tanner McDougal and put righty Davis Martin on the 15-day injured list with a right middle finger blister.
It’s unclear when the blister started bothering Martin but it came up in conversation yesterday. Martin was ejected from his most recent start after a couple of pitches to Sal Stewart, one of which went over Stewart’s head while the other made contact with Stewart’s helmet. After the game, in comments relayed by Chatterbox Sports, Martin claimed the blister played a role in him losing his grip on those offerings. The umpires didn’t assess the situation that way, as Martin was ejected.
The young righty is having an uneven season. Through the end of May, he had thrown 67 2/3 innings with a flat earned run average of 2.00. Since the calendar flipped to June, he has a 7.06 ERA in 57 1/3 innings, which has pushed his season-long ERA up to 4.32.
The Sox are pushing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2021. They are 62-58 and have a lead of 2.5 games over the Tigers in the American League Central. As they look to finish strong, they will have to do so without Martin for at least a couple of weeks.
Subtracting Martin, their rotation is left with Sean Burke, Luis Castillo and Anthony Kay. Today, Sean Newcomb is starting a bullpen game. Urquidy has been working as a starter in the minors this year and could absorb multiple innings as part of that. Erick Fedde tossed three innings yesterday after Martin was ejected. He won’t be available for a few days but could be back in the mix soon.
Though Martin might just miss a few starts, the Sox might have to reach for some more depth options. Drew Thorpe, who underwent Tommy John surgery last year, is on a rehab assignment and got up to five innings pitched in his last outing. Noah Schultz, Jonathan Cannon, Shane Smith, David Sandlin and McDougal are on optional assignment, though McDougal can’t be recalled for 15 days unless someone else is going on the IL. Sandlin was also just optioned three days ago and Schultz six. Cannon and Smith both have ERAs north of 5.00 in Triple-A this year.
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images
