Davis Martin is pitching like one of the best arms in baseball. He is second in MLB with a 1.62 ERA through 50 innings, and the White Sox right-hander said this week that he is still thinking ahead to life after playing, when he wants to become a strength coach.

Martin said he needs to re-certify his CSCS paperwork by December and added that he has a lot of CEUs, or continuing education units, to catch up on. That kind of detail fits the pitcher he has become: steady, prepared and still working with a trainer's eye even while he is dealing from a 97 mph fastball and turning in the kind of results that can change a season.

Lane Ramsey, who works with Martin at Pitching WRX, said he expects that future to happen. “He's going to be the strength and conditioning coach at Pitching WRX for us whenever he's done,” Ramsey said. Declan Cronin, who knows Martin from the pitching side, said a coach like that can shape careers. “If he wanted to affect future athletes and their careers, that would be a great place to start,” Cronin said. He added that Martin “really understands there's a lot of pieces that go into the puzzle of making up a pitcher.”

That perspective did not come quickly. Martin began his pro career in 2018 with three post-draft innings at the complex before moving on to the rookie-level Great Falls Voyagers in Montana. He was a 14th-round pick, and early on his fastball often sat in the 89-94 mph range. In his first full pro season in Kannapolis, he posted a 5.05 ERA. The numbers did not point to a fast climb. The work behind them did.

Matt Zaleski said Martin was already trying to build the next pitch in instructs, when he was working on a curveball through multiple side sessions. “I'll never forget, it was multiple side sessions and he was bounce-passing it, spiking 'em, and we kind of put it on the back burner,” Zaleski said. Chris Getz pointed to the same trait in a different way. “Makeup is discussed a fair amount when you're talking about players and their character, their work ethic and what they bring to the table. And I mean, his makeup is... it's very high,” Getz said.

Martin's path also stretches back to Texas Tech, where he was the Friday night starter as a freshman for a national championship team. He is 29 now, and the contrast between that long road and his current place on the league leaderboard explains why this season feels different. The pitcher who once had to earn every step is now finishing hitters with the kind of command and velocity that would have seemed far away when he was still throwing in Montana and chasing down a 5.05 ERA in Kannapolis.

What comes next is less about whether Martin can keep this run going than about how long he keeps doing it before the next chapter starts. For now, he is still in the middle of a breakout season. But the future he talks about is clear, and the people around him are already treating it like more than a possibility.