Kyle Teel spotted an issue that may explain Davis Martin’s recent struggles after the Red Sox knocked him around on Tuesday night.
There was a lot of excitement in the air for Tuesday night’s game between the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox. The White Sox added four new players at the trade deadline and entered the game with a 3.0 game lead in the AL Central, ready to face baseball’s hottest team.
The week following the trade deadline presented an opportunity for the White Sox to make a statement. They could reestablish their momentum and remind the rest of their improved AL Central opponents why they are the current division favorite and why they have occupied first place for the better part of two months.
That excitement quickly faded.
The Red Sox have dominated the White Sox in all of their matchups in 2026, and it was more of the same on Tuesday night. Boston blitzed White Sox starting pitcher Davis Martin for six earned runs in the first inning.
Martin surrendered three hits and hit one batter, allowing Boston to push across an early run while continuing to put traffic on the bases. He then gave up a grand slam to Caleb Durbin, followed by a home run from Jarren Duran, to quickly bury the White Sox and kill the excitement within the fan base.
The Red Sox had scored six runs by the time Martin recorded his second out of the ballgame.
Tuesday was the second consecutive game in which Martin was knocked around early. Last week against the New York Yankees, he surrendered four runs in the first inning. He was fortunate enough to settle down and pitch his way out of trouble from there, while the White Sox stormed back late to steal a 6–5 victory.
Chicago was not as fortunate on Tuesday. Boston continued adding on and ran away with a 14–2 blowout victory.
After the game, however, White Sox manager Will Venable provided an explanation for why Martin was hit so hard by the Red Sox. So if you're a White Sox fan looking for a silver lining, perhaps this is it.
According to Venable, Martin had an issue with tipping his pitches on Tuesday night. Injured White Sox catcher Kyle Teel was the first person to pick up on it from the bench and eventually clued the rest of the coaching staff in on what he had noticed.
For those that may be unfamiliar, a tipping issue means Martin was unintentionally revealing which pitch he was about to throw. It could have been something in his delivery or setup, or perhaps something as simple as how he held his glove. Whatever the specific cause, he was giving away what pitch was coming before the ball ever left his hand.
And if Kyle Teel could pick up on it while sitting in the White Sox dugout, it is safe to say the Red Sox hitters were also clued in.
Fortunately, these issues are usually fairly easy to nip in the bud. Martin can review the footage, identify the problem and theoretically return as an improved version of himself the next time he takes the mound.
That start is scheduled to come over the weekend against the Cleveland Guardians, so the White Sox will certainly need Martin to be at his best.
Does the tipping issue explain Davis Martin’s recent struggles? I'll leave that for you to decide, and we will probably have our answer as the remainder of the regular season plays out. But after watching that start in Boston, it is at least encouraging to know the White Sox appear to have identified a problem and already have a potential fix in mind.
