White Sox pitcher Sean Burke entering pivotal second season
GLENDALE, Ariz. — A year ago at this time, right-hander Sean Burke was preparing to be the White Sox’ Opening Day starter.
The Sox’ gamble to start Burke, who had made four major-league starts before getting the nod, paid off initially. He pitched six scoreless innings in the Sox’ 8-1 victory against the Angels on Opening Day, but his performance then took a downturn.
Burke wasn’t striking out hitters and failed to go deep into starts, depleting the bullpen as a result. He wasn’t getting ahead of hitters and struggled to get swings-and-misses. It became untenable to the point that he eventually was demoted to Triple-A Charlotte in August.
The Sox publicly supported him, but they also made it known he and right-hander Jonathan Cannon would have to win a spot in the rotation this spring.
‘‘It’s easy to look at the roller coaster of the [last] year, but I just take away the highs of it,’’ said Burke, who was 4-11 with a 4.22 ERA last season. ‘‘When things are going well for me, I’m up there competing against the best guys in the world and showing I can get those guys out consistently. So it’s not really much about changing a ton of stuff I’m doing; it’s more just being consistent.’’
Until his start Sunday, however, the results hadn’t followed. He entered the game with a 4.97 ERA but pitched well against the Mariners, allowing two runs and three hits with six strikeouts and a walk in five innings.
‘‘I’m ready to get to the real thing at this point,’’ Burke said. ‘‘But happy to end [the spring] on a good one, get in a good rhythm.’’
Spring performances don’t count, of course, but the way he pitched gave Burke confidence.
The key for Burke is his four-seam fastball. He isn’t someone who often pitches to contact, so getting swings-and-misses with the fastball will be his bread-and-butter. He got 11 swings-and-misses Sunday.
‘‘We talked a ton throughout [spring training], specifically with [assistant pitching coach Bobby Hearn] and [pitching coach Zach Bove], about leveraging counts and attacking hitters,’’ Burke said. ‘‘That’s been my main focus. I think a good example of that is when I got hit around a little bit in that first inning a couple of weeks ago [March 5 against the Guardians].
‘‘It’s sticking to the plan and knowing over a large sample, if I’m attacking the zone and making good pitches, that’s not going to happen often. Just trying not to deviate from that plan and be consistent with that.’’
Consistency eluded Burke for much of last season. He would offset tantalizing flashes, such as his 10-strikeout performance in the final game of last season, with subpar efforts, such as allowing six runs and three home runs in five innings against the Blue Jays in July.
Because of his inconsistency last season, Burke’s leash likely will be shorter as the Sox try to take a meaningful step forward. Still, he showed them enough this spring to earn the No. 2 spot in the rotation behind right-hander Shane Smith.
Now it’s on Burke to reward the faith of the coaching staff and show he should stay in the rotation.
‘‘He continues to be creative in ways to get guys out, and he’s done a really nice job,’’ manager Will Venable said.