CHICAGO — Davis Martin is the ace of the Chicago White Sox, a potential All-Star, even a dark-horse Cy Young candidate, but he’s also just like you.Because when it’s the bottom of the ninth and his Sox are grinding for yet another comeback victory, he’s Joey Bag O’ Donuts in the dugout.“This year,” he said to me recently, “I feel like a fan watching the games.”And he gets paid to watch, so it’s even better.Some would say the first half of the White Sox season has been like a movie. But it’s more like a baseball dream. For Martin, the only guy in the clubhouse to play for Tony La Russa, it’s been like a baseball rebirth.“I feel like I’ve (gotten) to experience all the terrible lows,” he said. “And so just to be able to be on this upswing and feel like we’re battling for a first-place position, we’re playing good baseball, it makes me realize just how much fun baseball is when you win.”The 29-year-old Martin started Saturday’s walk-off 2-1 win over the Kansas City Royals that gave the White Sox their 43rd win of the season at the season’s halfway point. He wasn’t in line for the win — he left after 5 1/3 scoreless innings — but he was thrilled to be watching and cheering as his teammates scratched out another victory in the bottom of the ninth.Will White Sox, Cardinals and Nationals buy or sell at the trade deadline?Ken RosenthalThe Sox have been buoyed by their young talent, including a slew of minor-league call-ups who quickly showed they belonged. Led by injured reliever Mike Vasil and his array of props, the dugout has a more collegial vibe than usual.“I think coming up through the minor leagues, at times it can be pretty lonely because it feels like everybody’s trying to get to their spot,” Martin said. “And I think this team has fully embraced the team aspect.”Martin has had a lot of opportunities to celebrate victories in games he’s pitched. In his 16 outings this season going into Thursday’s start in Cleveland, the Sox have won 12 of them.Compare that to 2024, that record-setting season, where the Sox won just one of his 11 appearances. Or even last year, when the team was 9-17 in games he pitched.The Sox have gone from quirky upstart to realistic playoff contender. And this baseball dream is turning into baseball reality.“The last two years, obviously, you kind of get numb to just losing so much,” Martin said. “And now where we’re at this year, it’s almost had an invigorating feeling of just we’re going to pull this out. I don’t know how we’re going to pull it out, but we’re going to do it.”A 14th-round pick in 2018 — the Nick Madrigal draft — he debuted in 2022 just when the organization started its descent into baseball hell. He pitched for La Russa, Miguel Cairo and with a cadre of veterans as the team stumbled around and finished with a .500 record.“I mean our rotation was (Dylan) Cease, (Lucas Giolito), (Johnny) Cueto, Lance Lynn,” he said. “It’s a little different now, just a little bit.”After a year on the shelf because of Tommy John surgery, he returned in late July 2024 to join the worst team in baseball history.In his first game back that season, on July 27, he pitched out of the bullpen and the Sox lost, falling to 27-80. In his first start on Aug. 2, he gave up four runs and the Sox fell to 27-85 with the loss. Though he never got a win that season, the Sox did win his last start, on Sept. 25, which improved their record to 38-120.Martin was just happy to be pitching again. Two years later, he’s 9-3 with a 3.00 ERA. After working with former pitching coach Ethan Katz and new pitching coach Zach Bove, he throws six pitches regularly — including a tight slider as a strikeout pitch — and while the analytics community doesn’t always love his stuff, neither do opposing hitters. If all things remain constant, he’ll likely be an All-Star selection, he’ll get Cy Young votes and might find himself pitching in October.He said his younger brother Brock, who was recently visiting from Austin, Texas, put it in perspective.“He was just like, can you imagine you were watching those Texas Rangers games when we’re 10, 11, 12 years old and now we’re sitting here in downtown Chicago eating a dinner after a game,” Martin said. “It’s kind of fun to have those moments to pop your head out of the trenches, and be like, ‘This is really cool. I really enjoy this’ and then go back down and get back to work.”The Sox’s success this season has been built on their performance at Rate Field. They are 28-14 at home — they’ve won 10 straight series on the South Side — and 17-25 on the road. Essentially, they’re the 2005 White Sox in Chicago and the 2025 Sox everywhere else.Martin is 5-0 with a 0.88 ERA in seven starts at home and 4-3 with a 4.67 ERA in nine starts on the road. The road numbers are weighted by two bad starts at Yankee Stadium and Target Field. It’s nothing he’s worried about.“I feel like our starters, all of our blowups have been on the road and so it just kind of inflates those ERAs,” he said.Regardless, the Sox will have to win more often on the road to make a run at a playoff spot. They are 45-39 with a two-game lead on Cleveland in the AL Central, but going into Tuesday’s game, PECOTA gave them just a 35.7 percent chance to make the playoffs. FanGraphs has the odds at just under 40 percent.Martin acknowledged the team has plenty of things to clean up and improve. And, as if he doesn’t already know this from his experiences the last few years, Martin said Erick Fedde (who was also on that 2024 team) reminds everyone to celebrate every win, because they’re hard to come by.But Munetaka Murakami should be back soon, and if this Sox team has shown anything, it’s that you can’t count them out and they’re going to have fun while trying.“I think we could beat anybody, and I think we’ve shown that,” Martin said. “The biggest thing is the confidence is there. And that’s always the most important key. When it’s a tight spot and a tight game, we don’t flinch. They flinch. We win.”After years in the baseball wilderness, Martin and the Chicago White Sox have found their way.