The White Sox announced today that right-hander Sean Burke has been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. Fellow righty Owen White has been recalled in a corresponding move. Per Scott Merkin of MLB.com, left-hander Martín Pérez will start Wednesday’s game.
Burke came into this season with just 19 big league innings under his belt. He broke camp with a job in the season-opening rotation and has held it until today. His results have generally been decent. He has made 24 appearances. Only 20 of those were technically starts, as he pitched behind an opener four times. He has logged 117 2/3 innings with a 4.28 earned run average. His 21.1% strikeout rate is just barely below league average for a starter this year. His 10.3% walk rate is more than two ticks worse than par.
Despite his generally cromulent performance, there are a few reasons the Sox are probably sending him down. Monitoring his workload is likely one of them. His highest innings total as a minor leaguer was 108, back in 2022. Shoulder troubles limited him to just 36 2/3 innings in 2023. Last year, between the majors and minors, he got to 90 2/3.
Here in 2025, he’s already shot past his personal high. It’s possible the Sox have already been dialing things back for him, as they haven’t let him go longer than five innings since July 2nd. He didn’t get through four innings in his most recent two outings. Optioning him down to the minors makes it easier to continue down that path.
On top of that, the Sox also recently welcomed Pérez back from the injured list. They also selected Yoendrys Gómez to the roster after getting him stretched out in the minors. Giving rotation spots to those two led to Jonathan Cannon and now Burke getting optioned out.
It also might not be a total coincidence that Burke is just shy of getting to one year of service time. He came into this season with 20 service days. By my count, he has added 144 days to that so far in 2025, bringing him to 164. A year rolls over at 172, so Burke is eight days away from that line.
It’s possible he could come back up as a September call-up and get over the one-year marker. If he does, then he would have a path to reaching six years of service and free agency after 2030. If not, the Sox will add an extra year of club control for themselves, as he wouldn’t be able to reach free agency until after 2031.
Photo courtesy of Denny Medley, Imagn Images
There is something to be said obviously about the service time angle, but it’s probably a smart move for CHW to consider shutting Burke down. He’s hit a career high in IP, and at this point stands with a good rookie season to build off of for next year. He’s an asset worth protecting; I’d way protect him.
In a lost season there’s no benefit of letting your arm fall.
aargh..”cromulent”…arrrgh
Is cromulent not adequate?
Between your user name and this comment, I am guessing you dont have the best judgment.
He already won by making you mad. He loses when he is ignored.
Most pretentious usage in the history of the English language: “cromulent”
Candidate for most pretentious writer on here as well
Huh, I never thought I’d live to hear a fake word gleaned from a cartoon show called, “pretentious.” This world is really going in a certain direction. I best get what plants crave.
I think he used it to embiggen the article.
Cromulent, how quaint. What’s a synonym for the worst?
I don’t think this is a service time manipulation. He’s ok, but I don’t think the Sox are counting on him for 2028/2029 let alone ‘30/31
Nah it’s probably to rest their arms. Ditto for Cannon.
Shows how stupid you are
He has had a solid average year in his first full time role. Just like they cut Crochet down to 4ip in the second half you need to protect these young arms down the stretch in a 100 loss season. No he doesn’t look like an ace but a solid 3-4 guy in his first year with lots of time to improve. Good move
Montgomery needs to be sent down. He’s been atrocious and looks lost at the plate.
He needs to stop trying to pull everything.
No, he needs to figure it out right where he’s at.
He won’t though
It’s been a rough week, but everyone has them. I think it’s a bit alarmist to send him back so soon. Might hurt his confidence, too.
Besides, it’s not like he’s the linchpin to the Sox’ playoff hopes this year.
Montgomery should not be sent down. They should replace the inept hitting ‘coach’ that somehow kept his job this season even though the Sox lost 121 games mostly due to inept hitting approaches. .
If there’s one thing I’m sure everybody can agree on, it’s that Sean Burke’s performance has been generally cromulent.
Overall yes
Wasn’t he a goalie for the Devils in the pre-Brodeur days?
Yep. Played for a bunch of teams over about 20 years but probably most known for his time in Jersey. He works for the Golden Knights now.
As much as we want it to be a word, cromulent isn’t one.
Yes, it is. merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cromulent
I was surprised to read the headline as Burke has been roughly average, maybe slightly below if you go by FIP, though still pretty good for a rookie. The reasoning makes sense, though.
Anyone who doesn’t understand and use cromulent is obviously a plebeian.