CHICAGO -- Korey Lee refers to Sean Burke as ¡°kid¡± when he speaks with pride of the right-hander¡¯s ascension to the 2025 White Sox Opening Day starter.
Lee, one of two White Sox catchers on the big-league roster, is 26 years of age, while Burke turned 25 on Dec. 18, 2024. So, it could be ¡°kid¡± in the sense of Burke entering this memorable moment, with first pitch set for 3:10 p.m. CT Thursday against the Angels at Rate Field, featuring a mere 19 innings of Major League mound experience.
Fourteen of those 19 innings came with Lee behind the plate, so the older, more experienced Lee truly knows what the ¡°kid¡± has to offer.
¡°Just his demeanor, he¡¯s a competitor. He¡¯s not going to give up,¡± Lee told MLB.com. ¡°He doesn¡¯t care if he¡¯s a young guy. He doesn¡¯t care who is in the box and he¡¯s going to go out there and pitch with what he¡¯s got that day.
¡°Whenever he¡¯s on, he¡¯s got really really good stuff. Obviously there are going to be days where you are trying to find a groove. But he¡¯s a competitor and that¡¯s all I can ask for on my side of things.¡±
So, a ¡°competitive kid?¡± Burke also understands not every start will be perfect in the scheme of what he hopes will be regular trips to the mound every five days.
Take his last Cactus League effort against the Reds in Goodyear, Ariz., as an example. Burke threw 27 pitches and only 10 for strikes in the first inning, leaving in the middle of the frame. He re-entered in the second and settled down over the next two before struggling again in the fourth.
Maybe it was a case of getting a little amped up after earning the Opening Day nod. Maybe it was simply an off day in a game not counting for a second against Burke¡¯s true statistics. Meaningless or not, Burke made the in-game adjustments and took something from the performance to carry into the regular season.
¡°A game like this kind of makes me actually hook in a little bit more, making sure I¡¯m back sharper,¡± said Burke after that Friday start. ¡°In a real game, you can¡¯t get yanked out in the first and go back out there. Just kind of have to do a better job of getting going from the get-go.
¡°Give my team a chance to win out there, because these are the ones that really matter. The good thing about this is these don¡¯t count. All my focus is getting back on track for Thursday.¡±
During Wednesday¡¯s workout day at the Rate, Burke met with a group of near 30 Chicago media members to further discuss this opportunity. He arrived in September of last season, making four appearances and three starts, while posting a 1.42 ERA. It was a nice bounce-back story, with Burke going from a Top 5 White Sox prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, in Spring Training ¡®23 to not even being invited to big league camp in ¡®24, but it certainly wasn¡¯t a tale of national prominence.
Now, he¡¯s one of 30 pitchers to have this Opening Day distinction.
¡°He's really rounded out his arsenal. I¡¯m just very bullish on what he¡¯s done and his ability to go out and continue to get better,¡± said White Sox director of pitching Brian Bannister of Burke. ¡°When you stand next to him, there¡¯s no doubt about his physicality. He has tree trunks for legs. His aptitude is very accelerated.¡±
¡°It¡¯s awesome, and I think it¡¯s well deserved,¡± right-hander Grant Taylor, the No. 7 White Sox prospect who got to know Burke during Spring Training, told MLB.com. ¡°He¡¯s a winner. He cares a lot about getting better. He cares a lot about other guys in the clubhouse getting better. He¡¯s a fun guy to talk to and I¡¯m really excited to watch him on Opening Day.¡±
Burke has 25 friends and family coming Thursday. They know the moment won¡¯t be too big for the ¡°kid.¡±
¡°I promise you, I'm ready for this,¡± Burke said Wednesday.
¡°He¡¯s worked hard the whole offseason. He¡¯s worked hard in Spring Training. Worked on just his mental game. He¡¯s just been incredible this spring. Matured,¡± Lee said. ¡°We trust our young guys here. Handing the ball to Burke for Opening Day just kind of reciprocates that feeling. His experience last year, had success, had failures. Now he just gets to go out and be our Opening Day guy. Like I said, I couldn¡¯t be prouder of the kid.¡±