White Sox starter Erick Fedde's 'stressful' offseason led him back to where he needed to be

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — White Sox right-hander Erick Fedde was anxious.

After a subpar year that saw him left off the Brewers’ playoff roster, the right-hander didn’t know what to expect entering free agency. He was just one year removed from a breakout 2023 season, and now he was dealing with uncertainty once again.

In an industry where free agency has taken longer and longer to produce deals, Fedde needed immediate answers.

“There's a lot of tough decisions you have to make, like maybe going back overseas,” he told the Sun-Times before Saturday’s game. “Those are decisions that have to be made in December, and free agency doesn't really get going until February.

[Then you have to] think about maybe caving on minor league deals and it’s stressful. That's why you luckily, hopefully have a good agent, somebody to calm you down.”

The first person to reach out to Fedde was right-hander Davis Martin. The two had grown close during spring training in 2023 but Matin was sent to the minors while Fedde remained with the big-league club, so they were never teammates during the season

“Well, obviously, we talked through pitching, but we watch anime and play fantasy football,” Fedde said.

The two’s paths are also intertwined because Fedde's trade to the Cardinals opened a roster spot for Martin to return to the majors after he missed the 2023 season recovering from Tommy John surgery.

“I’m excited to see how he is in the clubhouse; his personality has always been hilarious,” Martin said of Fedde.

But now the two will be teammates as part of the Sox’ Opening Day rotation after Fedde and right-hander Sean Burke claimed the two rotation spots behind Opening Day starter Shane Smith, left-hander Anthony Kay and Martin.

“Journeys can be crazy, but sometimes you end up where you want to be,” Fedde said.

Opening Day preview

The Sox’ lineup against the Reds was likely a preview of the Opening Day lineup, though manager Will Venable was reticent to reveal that. Venable and the coaching staff are going to mix-and-match different lineup combinations over the first part of the season.

He said earlier in spring training that he talked with the guys and told them there wouldn’t be much lineup stability.

“I think it’s more about how each hitter complements each other,” Venable said. “As we look for different ways to score runs, we really just want to put consecutive good things in a row, so that can mean different things when we have different groups.”

Entering Saturday, the Sox led baseball in triples, third in doubles (65) and stolen bases (43). Being active on the bases will be the Sox’ identity this season. They want the lineup to be opportunistic when the situation presents itself.

“We’ve made mistakes, but aggressive mistakes which we like,” Venable said. “We feel like overall the group has done a great job with [first-base coach Jose Leger] leading the way with the baserunning stuff."

Reds 11, Sox 7

• Left fielder Austin Hays finished 2-for-4.

• Right fielder Everson Pereira finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs.

• Starter Jedixson Paez threw 2 ⅔ innings, allowing one run on three hits with two walks and no strikeouts.

On deck: Sox vs. Mariners, 8:05 p.m., Glendale, Bryan Woo vs. Sean Burke.