It didn’t take long for Adrian Houser to make an impact on the Chicago White Sox. After agreeing to a one-year deal, the right-hander was immediately thrown into a start against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday. Houser wasn’t afraid of the fire however, helping lead the White Sox to a 1-0 victory.
Houser pitched six innings of scoreless baseball, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out two. The win ended Chicago’s five game losing streak and gave Houser his first major league victory since May of 2024.
The right-hander had to wait an extra hour and 35 minutes as the game started in a rain delay. However, Houser said it only added to the excitement of his White Sox debut, via Lamond Pope of the Chicago Tribune.
“It’s been kind of wild with the whirlwind of getting here, traveling up here and then with the rain delay and all that kind of stuff,” Houser said. “So all things considered, I feel like it was a pretty good day.”
“It just kind of felt a little weird not knowing a lot of the guys in here, not being able to meet them,” he said. “Obviously a new relationship with the catcher (Edgar Quero), so having to figure that out on the fly. But I think we all adjusted well and did pretty well tonight.”
Adrian Houser eyeing brighter future with Chicago White Sox
After struggling with the New York Mets in 2024, Houser was forced to go the minor league route. He ultimately ended up with the Texas Rangers to begin the 2025 campaign. He pitched to a 2-2 record, 5.03 ERA and 37/15 K/BB ratio over nine games. But when a major league opportunity came, Houser knew he needed to take it.
“(I) had an opt out with the Rangers on the 15th and we felt like I had been throwing the ball well enough to be able to go get an opportunity with somebody else and so we decided to test the waters and was able to fortunately get a major-league job offer and so we had to jump on it,” Houser said.
The right-hander had a solid run with the Milwaukee Brewers over his seven years with the franchise, compiling a 31-34 record, 4.00 ERA and 439/212 K/BB ratio. During the 2021 campaign, Houser put up a career-best 3.22 ERA with a 10-6 ERA and a 105/64 K/BB ratio.
However, the wheels fell off with the Mets in 2024. Houser held a 1-5 record, 5.84 ERA and 45/34 K/BB ratio. Clearly something was off, and he needed to earn his way back into the major leagues.
Houser successfully did just that and then shined once given an opportunity for the White Sox. Still, he is remaining humble about the situation and understands how rare a chance he was given.
“These opportunities don’t come very often, so you don’t want to fumble it,” Houser said. “You want to be able to go out there and win games for your team and do everything you can to stay up here.”
Houser will look to prove that his return to MLB wasn’t a fluke and that he can be a strong rotation solution for Chicago. While it’ll take more than one start for that decision to be made, Houser at least impressed manager Will Venable in his debut.
“(He) attacked the zone, two-seam and four-seam fastball were really good,” manager Will Venable said. “Was able to get some chase with the secondary stuff, and then a couple of big double plays there.”
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