Chicago White Sox Rule 5 Draft Pick Shane Smith Reacts to Making Opening Day Roster
Even with Opening Day a week out, the Chicago White Sox have decided to lock in a key roster decision.
Manager Will Venable called right-handed pitcher Shane Smith into his office Thursday. As a Rule 5 Draft pick, Smith was either going to break camp with the White Sox or get sent back to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Venable kept Smith hanging in suspense for a minute, but ultimately confirmed Smith would be sticking around in Chicago to open 2025.
The White Sox shared a video of the interaction on social media, as well as a video of Smith calling his parents with the news – on their anniversary, no less.
who cut the onions? 🥹 https://t.co/4loEVwtz0F pic.twitter.com/kqQayt7Agf
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) March 20, 2025
MLB Pipeline has the 24-year-old righty ranked as the No. 26 prospect in the White Sox's farm system.
Chicago took Smith with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft. He has yet to make his MLB debut, but is 13-7 with a 2.69 ERA, 1.051 WHIP and 11.6 strikeouts in his minor league career.
Smith's first appearance in spring training made it difficult to envision him succeeding at the MLB level so soon, as he gave up one hit, three walks and four earned runs in 1.2 innings against the Texas Rangers. In the 9.0 innings he as pitched since, though, Smith has allowed just four hits, one walk and zero runs with 10 strikeouts.
On March 8 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Smith struck out Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith. He tossed 4.0 scoreless frames against his former organization, the Brewers, on Wednesday.
Smith is likely to fill the fifth spot in the White Sox's rotation, rounding out a group that also includes Sean Burke, Martín Pérez, Jonathan Cannon and Davis Martin. His first start of the regular season should come at home against the Minnesota Twins.
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