Sean Burke grateful for White Sox postseason Game 2 start
Chicago White Sox starter Sean Burke will take the mound for Wild Card Game 2 against the Houston Astros after posting a 3.34 ERA in a career-high 172⅓ innings, and he says the postseason chance feels like everything after years marked by shoulder injuries.
Key Takeaways
- Sean Burke starts Wild Card Game 2 vs. Houston after leading the Sox staff with a 3.34 ERA in 172⅓ innings.
- He missed Game 1 because he pitched Friday amid Chicago’s late push for the division title.
- Burke called baseball “my life,” framing the start as gratitude after shoulder setbacks in 2023 and 2024.
- Chicago leads the series 1-0 after a 6-3 win Tuesday and is chasing its first playoff series win in 21 years.
Why is Sean Burke starting Wild Card Game 2?
Burke was Chicago’s most reliable starter in the regular season, logging a career-high workload with a 3.34 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP and 185 strikeouts. That track record made him the club’s clear choice once Game 2 opened up.
He was unavailable for Game 1 after pitching Friday as the White Sox chased a division title. The team’s heavy use of openers also delayed when he was formally named for Game 2, but the Sun-Times reported that, for this postseason rotation, he is their guy.
Against Houston specifically, Burke posted a 1.54 ERA over 11⅔ innings with 16 strikeouts this season. Full context is in the Chicago Sun-Times report.
What did Sean Burke say about the opportunity?
Speaking from the visitors dugout at Daikin Park in Houston, Burke leaned into gratitude rather than pressure. “This is my life,” he told the Sun-Times. “I don’t have family, no girl, no kids. This is all I do.”
That line quickly traveled beyond the clubhouse. For more reaction around the quote and series stakes, see related coverage in Celebrity Breaking News.
Looking back on 2023, when the White Sox struggled and he barely pitched, Burke said there was “no real vision of this.” Reaching a Game 2 start with a chance to push Chicago toward the ALDS is, in his words, a cool payoff for the work.
How did injuries shape Sean Burke’s path?
In 2023, Burke posted a 7.61 ERA in limited Triple-A innings while dealing with a barking shoulder and lagging velocity. He made his major-league debut in 2024 and reached the White Sox rotation, though shoulder discomfort returned at one point.
“I knew I was good, it was more am I ever gonna get my arm feeling good enough to be myself and pitch how I know I can pitch again,” Burke said.
Late this season he reintroduced long-toss after briefly scrapping it, which helped stop his fastball from cutting unexpectedly, and he re-emphasized his cutter as a strike-getter. That work has the club confident he can handle its biggest start in years.
Momentum is already with Chicago after Tuesday’s 6-3 win, opened by Hagen Smith’s three scoreless innings. If Burke goes deep Wednesday, the White Sox could close the Wild Card Series in two games and end a 21-year drought without a postseason series victory.