Who would’ve thunk last fall watching Trey Yeasavage mow through AL hitters that just a few long months later, we’d be saying things like “Yeah he’s good, but Sean Burke might wind up getting some Cy Young votes, has the advantage.”
Obviously I’m being rather liberal with the royal “we” there, because I might really be the only one saying it, but I think it’s true. Burke is making his first start of the second half after catching fire going into the All-Star break, and if he can maintain anything
like his season-long pace of a 3.41 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning, he’ll almost certainly garner some down-ballot votes.
It’s hard to understate how red-hot Burke is. After spinning seven stellar innings against the Athletics just before the break, his totals from his last six starts work out to six earned runs over 32 innings, looking every bit a starter who might not need an opener any longer. He touched 99 mph last week. 99! From Sean Burke! You just can’t fake that stuff, and if he can keep up anything like that while maintaining a good feel for his breaking balls, the Sox are going to be in very very good shape.
It seems in fact we may be in for a replay of last summer, when Shane Smith grabbed our attention while Burke quietly became the most consistent pitcher on the staff from late May-on. I strongly suspect Davis Martin will continue to make it a conversation, but if the Sox wind up playing in October this year, I also suspect Burke will be the one starting Game 1.
I also just noticed that this is happening over on the AL rookie leaderboard, sorted by WRC+.
There’s really a non-zero chance that this team winds up with two Top 3 Cy Young finishers and all but sweeping the top of the Rookie of the Year voting. There’s also a non-zero chance they do that and still wind up missing the playoffs, because the White Sox are still the White Sox. Still, it becomes harder to argue almost every day that this isn’t simply a talented ball club, and if their lineup can find some middle ground between Friday’s slugfest and yesterday’s neutering, they’ll be pretty well set for the series. That would also put them back to a season-high six games above breakeven heading into a tough series down in Arlington, Texas.
Here’s what Toronto manager John Schneider is using to match up against Burke this morning:
There is one more piece of reporting to report heading into today’s game. Clay Holmes may not be the ace we’re hoping for, but he won’t be expensive, and a veteran arm to solidify the staff just to get them to the playoffs might be the best move they can make, given the state of the trade market.
If you’re wondering why we’re up this early on a Sunday, I’d because today’s game is unfortunately only accessible via Peacock, though Len and DJ will be on the AM 1000 radio call as always. First pitch is at 11:15 a.m. CT, and we’ll see you there!
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