White Sox option Sean Burke to Triple-A Charlotte

In a somewhat surprising move, the White Sox optioned starting pitcher Sean Burke to Triple-A Charlotte on Monday.

Burke, who was the team's Opening Day starter, has had an up-and-down season, going 4-10 with a 4.28 ERA. The 25-year-old right-hander has appeared in 24 games (20 starts), and he's pitched a team-leading and career-high 117.2 innings.

And Burke has struck out 110 batters across those innings. That's the good part. He has shown some ability to miss bats. However, he might be hitting a bit of a wall during these dog days of August. 

On paper, his last five starts aren't that bad -- a 3.92 ERA with 30 strikeouts over 20.2 innings. But that last number -- the innings -- is the sore spot. Burke is barely averaging four innings per start over this stretch. 

In his previous two outings, he needed 88 pitches to get through 3.1 innings against Cleveland. He needed 85 pitches to get through 3.2 innings Saturday against Kansas City. That's taxing a Sox bullpen that has been struggling.

It's not a great sign that both Burke and Jonathan Cannon have been optioned to Charlotte in recent days. No doubt the Sox were hoping one (or both) of them would have a breakout season and solidify a rotation spot for 2026. Neither man has done that.

Martin Perez is back off the injured list, and he'll rejoin the rotation when he starts Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Braves. Perez and Aaron Civale make up the veteran part of the starting staff. 

Shane Smith has looked much better since recently coming off the injured list, and Davis Martin threw six innings of shutout ball in a no-decision Sunday in Kansas City.

So, four of the rotation spots are still covered, despite the struggles of Burke and Cannon. Apparently, the Sox want to take a look at righty Yoendrys Gomez, who had a strong five-inning start with seven strikeouts against the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 12.

Gomez pitched Monday's game against the Atlanta Braves, as well, and he picked up his second consecutive victory as the Sox beat Atlanta, 13-9.

The Sox were ahead 10-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, so Gomez (3-1) was once again effective through five. Alas, he gave up three runs in the sixth, and that made his final line look mediocre -- four runs on seven hits, with three strikeouts and one walk.

The 13 runs and 19 hits were season highs for the Sox. Brooks Baldwin, Luis Robert Jr., Lenyn Sosa and Kyle Teel all homered for the Sox. 

For Sosa, it was his third homer in the four games on the current road trip. He now leads the team with 17 home runs. Teel and Andrew Benintendi each had four-hit games. 

The Sox are now 45-80. 

A White Sox sweep? Ha! Too much to ask

We didn't really think the White Sox could sweep a three-game series from the Cincinnati Reds, did we? Of course not!

The Reds clobbered the Sox, 7-1, on Thursday in the final game of the series at Great American Ball Park. The South Siders saw their modest three-game winning streak come to an end.

It was not a good day for Sox starter Bryse Wilson. Three batters into the bottom of the first inning, Cincinnati had the bases loaded with nobody out. The Reds ended up scoring three runs, highlighted by a two-out, two-run single by Will Benson, and the outcome was never much in doubt after that.

Wilson (0-2) lasted 5.1 innings and allowed seven runs on 10 hits. He struck out three and allowed three home runs.

The Sox didn't get their first hit until the top of the fifth inning off Cincinnati starter Nick Martinez (2-4), who allowed only two singles over seven shutout innings.

Miguel Vargas had two of the Sox four hits and drove in the lone Chicago run with a two-out single in the eighth.

Say this for Wilson: He covered 16 outs on a day where he did not have good stuff. The Sox only had to use two relievers to get through this game. Jared Shuster used 17 pitches to get five outs. Yoendrys Gomez used 14 pitches to get three outs.

Honestly, the Sox bullpen came away relatively unscathed given that it was a blowout loss, and they shouldn't be in bad shape for their next game.

I saw some complaints on Twitter/X today about Wilson, a veteran placeholder who doesn't have a future with the Sox beyond this season. Some fans want him to lose his spot in the rotation to a younger pitcher from Triple-A. I saw both Nick Nastrini and Jairo Iriarte mentioned.

It would be a mistake to recall either of those two pitchers. Nastrini has a 6.61 ERA in Triple-A Charlotte, and he was recently moved to the bullpen. He doesn't have a reliable out pitch against left-handed batters. His future in the majors, if there is one, will be as a right-on-right relief specialist. 

Iriarte is averaging fewer than three innings per start at Charlotte. He's made five starts, thrown 14 innings, walked 14 batters and posted a 7.71 ERA.

If you call either of these two pitchers up, they will not be able to handle the task. They'd routinely get knocked out in the second or third inning. The Sox bullpen is not a strength. You don't want to get in the habit of asking relief pitchers to cover 17, 18, 19 or 20 outs per game.

Wilson is going to get into the fifth or sixth inning, even on his worst day -- like Thursday. There is value in that.

It's important to remember what we saw in 2024. There were a lot of short starts and long days for the bullpen. That's how you get those soul-sucking losing streaks that last 10 or more games. That's how you lose 121 games in a season.

The Sox are 14-30 as it is. Let's not make it any worse by calling for the team to bring up pitchers who are unqualified for the job.