Kopech goes on paternity leave

Word of Davis Martin heading to Kansas City as the emergency starter for today’s nightcap broke last night, but there are few more wrinkles to the roster as of today:

With Johnny Cueto’s promotion to the White Sox on Monday filling the 40-man roster up, today’s moves got a little tricky.

Paternity leave covers one to three days of absence from the team, so Kopech will be back with the White Sox to start against the Yankees later this week. His replacement (in this case, Martin) does not count against the active roster, so in a sense, calling up a player to replace a teammate on paternity leave is another form of “emergency call-up” for a doubleheader.

However, because Martin does count against the 40-man roster, the White Sox needed to create space for him. With Garrett Crochet not active on the club until 2023, shifting him to the 60-player IL and temporarily opening up his roster spot for Martin was the move to make.

However, now Martin is on the 40-man roster, which indicates his strong 2022 season in the minors warrants a White Sox commitment — or that the club thinks they can sneak him through waivers if forced at any time (injury, future trade) to DFA him off of the 40-man.

Martin has been moving up the White Sox system based solely on promise, at least until this year. He brought a career 4.93 ERA over his first three seasons (2018-21, missing 2020 due to the pandemic) into 2022, starting in Double-A Birmingham at age 25.

After going 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA and 1.250 WHIP over five starts with the Barons, Martin got a somewhat aggressive call-up to Charlotte, where he has had two immaculate starts, going 2-0 with two earned runs over 12 innings.

Martin was SSS’s No. 88 prospect heading into the 2022 season, and was considered the No. 18 right-handed starting pitcher in the system. He features a fastball that may touch mid-90s, along with solid curve and changeup offerings.

Something has clicked for him in 2022, so let’s hope the magic continues in Kansas City!