Thankfully, the Chicago White Sox will not be considered the worst team in baseball this season, as the Colorado Rockies look primed to break their loss record from last season. The White Sox’s seeing more success this season can be attributed to their starting staff, which has helped lower their team ERA to 4.20, good enough for 22nd in baseball.
The White Sox starting staff doesn’t have household names that anyone outside of Chicago would know, but they have provided the White Sox with many quality starts this season. The starting staff has experienced some bumps and bruises, with the biggest loss coming to Martín Pérez, who will likely be out until September, as he works his way back from a forearm issue.
The White Sox haven’t had to look far to pick up the slack that Pérez left behind, as guys like Sean Burke, Davis Martin, and Jonathan Cannon have filled his innings nicely. Even better, the White Sox starting staff has seen the emergence of Shane Smith, who looks more and more like the White Sox’s next “Ace” with each start.
The Chicago White Sox have a good one in Shane Smith
Since getting picked first overall in this past offseason’s Rule 5 Draft, Smith has looked like a great find and a future front-of-the-line starter. Overall, in nine starts, Smith has a 1-3 record and has an impressive 2.05 ERA. Smith’s 2.05 ERA is good enough to have him ranked eighth in all of baseball, with guys like former White Sox pitcher and Boston Red Sox starter Garrett Crochet (2.00) and New York Yankees All-Star lefty Max Fried (MLB leader, 1.11), to name a few, ranking ahead of him.
Smith has even done well with his advanced metrics, as he ranks in the 89th percentile for his pitching run value, the 93rd percentile for his fastball run value, and the 91st percentile for his offspeed run value. Even more impressive is that the 25-year-old right-hander has been locked down at home, having a 1.99 ERA in four starts.
Smith should even be considered for pitcher of the month in May, as he has a 1.69 ERA and 17 strikeouts in three starts this month (16.0 innings).
Smith is a piece to build around
Apr 1, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox pitcher Shane Smith (64) high fives third baseman Miguel Vargas (20) after pitching against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images
The White Sox got lucky with their pick of Smith and could have one of the best starting rotations in the next few years. The White Sox have two future Aces in Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith down in Double-A, leading the Birmingham Barons’ starting staff to victory, with Grant Taylor quietly making a name for himself alongside Smith and Schultz as a middle-of-the-rotation piece.
Pairing those three alongside Smith in the next few seasons should give the White Sox one of the best rotations and give them a cheap and controllable staff to build adequate offense around them. Smith is one of the first signs that the rebuild seems to be going well, and if he can maintain this dominance, he could be looking at an appearance at this season’s midsummer classic.
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