David Sandlin’s MLB debut could not have started much worse. His first big league pitch, initially called a strike, was overturned by an ABS challenge. His second offering to Byron Buxton was crushed 417 feet to center field.
But much like Sandlin’s road to the show, the rocky start hardly defined the rest of his outing. Sandlin did not play varsity baseball until his senior year at Owasso High School in Oklahoma.
Sandlin did not play varsity baseball until his senior year at Owasso High School in Oklahoma. When college offers never came, he began emailing junior colleges across the state in hopes of catching a coach’s attention. Only one program responded, Eastern Oklahoma State, which ultimately gave him his lone opportunity to continue playing baseball.
But after posting a 3.46 ERA in his first two seasons at Eastern Oklahoma State, he committed to the University of Oklahoma, where he continued to impress, going 9-4 as a starter and racking up 102 strikeouts in 95 innings of work. It was enough to pique the Kansas City Royals’ interest, who selected him in the 11th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. A couple of trades later and five minor league seasons later, Sandlin found himself pitching on a major league mound.
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After giving up a leadoff home run, Sandlin proceeded to retire the next 18 batters he faced and needed just 61 pitches to cruise through six innings of one-run ball, with 41 of those pitches going for strikes. In the process, he struck out four, did not issue a walk, and earned the win of his career, with Buxton’s home run ultimately being the only hit he allowed all night.
His average of 10.2 pitches per inning also marked the fewest by any MLB pitcher to work at least six innings in a major league debut since pitch tracking began in 1988.
Sandlin probably could have gone deeper into the game, but after being held to an 85 pitches per game in Triple-A Charlotte and the White Sox holding a commanding 9-1 lead, manager Will Venable decided not to force the issue.
But even in a small sample size, Sandlin showcased the full breadth of his arsenal. He attacked the Minnesota Twins lineup with a heavy fastball-curveball combination, throwing 26 four-seam fastballs and 18 curveballs. He averaged 97 mph on his heater, with three of his four strikeouts coming on his curveball
The 25-year-old right-hander also generated seven swinging strikes in the outing. While he only mixed in seven cutters, four split-changeups, three sweepers and three sinkers, he recorded his first career strikeout on a filthy 93 mph changeup that dropped out of the zone and sent Brooks Lee swinging through it.
Entering the season, Sandlin was one of the White Sox most intriguing offseason additions, after coming over in a trade with the Boston Red Sox that also included Jordan Hicks.
The split-changeup that he recorded his first big league strikeout on is a pitch he began experimenting with last season to help keep hitters off balance. He owned a 30.3% chase rate in the minor leagues last season, but had issues with commanding his fastball at times, which too often caught the heart of the zone and was punished by hitters.
Some of those concerns popped up during his debut, with the Twins recording seven balls in play that had an exit velocity north of 95 mph.
However, the efficiency he showed on Wednesday night comes as no surprise to those who have watched him in the minor leagues. Unlike many of the White Sox hard-throwing prospects who deal with control issues, Sandlin already had a foundation built on throwing strikes.
Before joining the White Sox, he averaged just 2.9 walks per nine innings across four minor league seasons. His biggest issue was where some of those pitches were landing in the strike zone. When his command wavered at Triple-A, hitters were able to square him up, batting .337 against him.
But with a much-improved White Sox defense behind him, forcing hitters to put balls in play is a much better alternative to giving up free passes.
It’s clear that Sandlin’s stuff will play in the big leagues. While there will likely be some more growing pains as the season progresses, Sandlin looks like the type of middle-of-the-rotation arm who could make an impact for the White Sox this season.
