White Sox Can't Afford to Waste More Sean Burke Starts

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Sean Burke has looked like a certified ace over his last 10 starts in the 2026 season.

Dating back to June 18 at Yankee Stadium, Burke has thrown 62 innings over 10 outings with a 1.60 ERA and 79 strikeouts. That's 11.5 K/9 with a 1.60 and more than six innings per start on average. That's frontline starting pitcher stuff for a White Sox team that has desperately needed it.

Starting pitching has been the primary issue for Chicago in 2026. More specifically, length from the starting pitching has been the primary issue. So games like the one we saw Tuesday night against the Cincinnati Reds are particularly disheartening for the White Sox.

Burke went seven innings, allowing three hits and zero walks. The only real "mistake" he made on the day came on a fastball above the strike zone that Eugenio Suarez took out for a solo home run. But he delivered seven strong innings, allowing one run and striking out eight, while leaving with a 4-1 lead and having thrown only 94 pitches.

He gave the White Sox length, the lead, and an all-around dominant outing against a subpar Cincinnati Reds team that came in at 56-61. And the White Sox bullpen let him down.

An infield single from Matt McLain, a pop-up base hit from Michael Toglia, and then a cue shot off the bat of Elly De La Cruz that found a hole to the right side opened the floodgates for Cincinnati. Bryan Hudson gave up three hits and three earned runs without recording an out, allowing the Reds to tie the game in the eighth inning before Grant Taylor replaced him.

It was some terrible batted-ball luck, with each softly hit ball by the Reds finding green grass. But that's no consolation to the White Sox, who got a stellar outing from their starting pitcher and let it go to waste with another frustrating extra-inning loss.

To make matters worse, the Detroit Tigers won on Tuesday, shortening Chicago's lead in the AL Central to just 2.5 games. The team is now 3-6 in the month of August, and it's teams like the Reds that the White Sox will need to beat, especially when they have their best starting pitcher on the mound.

It's hard not to have a lot of faith in Sean Burke moving forward. Everything about his last 10 starts seems sustainable. In my personal opinion, I think the White Sox have a true frontline starting pitcher on their hands. But if they're not going to win his starts the rest of the way, they're going to have a really hard time making the playoffs in 2026, which is the ultimate goal on the minds of every White Sox fan, player, and coach right now.