Burke displays mettle in debut: 'Best day of my life'

CHICAGO – It didn’t take long for White Sox right-hander Sean Burke to be introduced to Major League pressure during his debut on the mound as part of Chicago’s 5-0 loss Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.

After striking out Bo Naylor and inducing a Brayan Rocchio flyout to open the seventh, Burke walked Steven Kwan and the inning stayed alive via first baseman Gavin Sheets’ fielding error on an Andrés Giménez grounder. The runners ended up on second and third following a wild pitch and a Giménez stolen base, setting things up for José Ramírez.

That’s José Ramírez, a 2024 American League Most Valuable Player candidate and a longtime White Sox nemesis. No pressure there, kid.

Actually, no problem, as Burke struck him out on three pitches with a curveball to finish.

“I want to pitch at the highest level and I want to face the best guys in the world,” the beaming 24-year-old said after the contest. “Kind of getting thrown into it right away was a cool opportunity.

“I’m glad I was able to execute a few pitches and get him out. I tried to treat it like another hitter. You have the report going in with what you want to attack him with. But as far as thinking, ‘Holy [crap], this is José Ramírez,’ it’s just kind of going about business as usual.”

Burke allowed one unearned run -- set up by his errant pickoff throw at first in the ninth -- completing three innings and 53 pitches. The effort came in the 17th shutout of the White Sox, who fell 80 games under .500 at 33-113 overall.

They are 1-26 in their last 27 home games and have dropped a franchise-record 14 straight at home. Tuesday’s setback marked a 20th straight series defeat for a team sitting seven losses away from breaking the AL single season record of 119 set by the Tigers in ‘03 and eight away from the MLB mark of 120 from the ‘62 Mets.

“It’s been a while since we put one together at home,” said White Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore, whose team sits at 18-56 at the Rate. “Again, you try to block all that stuff out.

“What can we do to get better, improve from yesterday, pull from the positives and learn from the negative parts? Every day, we have to get better. What can we do to win tonight? That’s all it is.”

This appearance by Burke followed starter Jonathan Cannon, as part of the franchise-high 62 players (34 pitchers) used by the White Sox in ‘24. Burke also joined Cannon on the list of 12 players who made their Major League debut during this campaign.

When Burke recorded that first career strikeout, using a curveball to get Bo Naylor swinging on a 2-2 offering, the television broadcast panned to his cheering family sitting in the stands. That group numbered 10 or 11, including his mom, dad, grandparents, girlfriend, agent, aunt, uncle and a friend from college.

Burke's contract was purchased from Triple-A Charlotte prior to Tuesday’s contest after Knights manager Pat Listach let Burke know about his Major League promotion. Listach called Burke from the team’s sleeper bus on the way back from Norfolk, but Burke, riding on what he humorously called the “JV bus,” missed both calls while he was playing cards with teammates in the back.

That message eventually got through. Burke got the job done Tuesday, striking out three.

“It was unbelievable. This is definitely the best day of my life,” Burke said. “It’s something I’ve worked for since I picked up a baseball for the first time. It’s hard to put into words right now. Reflecting back over tomorrow and the next couple of days, I’ll settle in and it will feel more real.”

“Incredibly proud of him. He’s been working his tail off since Spring Training,” catcher Korey Lee said of Burke. “We had some good conversations then. Obviously his hard work paid off. He got to have this special moment and did a great job.”

Looking back at the MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 White Sox prospects going into ‘23, Burke ranked at a lofty No. 5. He has battled through rotator cuff tendinitis, knocking him down that list, but worked his way back to No. 29 in ‘24. Burke’s next outing could be as a starter.

“To be honest, I didn’t think my stuff was that great tonight,” Burke said. “I’ve had a lot better stuff down at Triple-A over the last month and a half. To have that experience and still be able to get outs, it was really nice.”