White Sox starter Shane Smith minimizes damage in loss to Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It wasn’t White Sox right-hander Shane Smith’s sharpest start of 2025.

His performance was subpar by his own lofty standards.

But the fact that allowing two runs, five hits and three walks in five innings in the Sox’ 3-0 loss Monday to the Royals can be considered subpar says a lot about the reputation Smith quickly has built for himself.

‘‘He was in control,’’ manager Will Venable said. ‘‘[Smith] did fall behind some guys, but he was able to get back in counts, work through some trouble and limit the damage. Another great outing by Shane.’’

Smith’s effectiveness began to wane a bit in the fourth. He allowed a leadoff single to Bobby Witt Jr., then struck out Vinnie Pasquantino before walking Salvador Perez on an eight-pitch at-bat and allowing an RBI single to Maikel Garcia to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Smith rebounded by striking out Michael Massey and getting Drew Waters to ground out.

His ability to navigate traffic on the bases and limit damage was impressive. In the fifth, Smith allowed back-to-back singles to Kyle Isbel and Jonathan India to put runners on first and third with one out.

After a mound visit, Smith allowed an RBI double to Witt that boosted the Royals’ lead to 2-0. He didn’t allow things to snowball, though. He regrouped and got Pasquantino to hit a ground ball to first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who threw out India at the plate, then got Perez to ground into a force.

It wasn’t Smith’s cleanest outing, but it was perhaps one of his most impressive. In a couple of innings that could have taken a turn for the worse and led to the Sox burning through their bullpen in the opener of a four-game series, he kept the Royals at bay.

But Smith wasn’t pleased with the quality of his last two innings after breezing through the first three. He mentioned he needed to do a better job of finishing off hitters.

Witt’s at-bat in the fifth stands out because Smith was ahead in the count 0-2 before hanging a changeup in the middle of the zone.

‘‘Make pitches when it counts,’’ Smith said of improvements he wants to make. ‘‘That’s really what it comes down to.’’

Smith’s velocity was up compared to his season averages, but his command wasn’t as good as it has been in prior starts. Still, he matched Royals left-hander Cole Ragans as best he could. The Sox’ offense, however, mustered only six hits and struck out 14 times against Ragans and four Royals relievers.

Smith doesn’t resemble the Rule 5 Draft pick he was in December in his demeanor, his performance or his physical aptitude. He turned heads in spring training because of his uptick in velocity, but it’s his makeup and competitiveness that has enabled him to have early success.

‘‘His routine in between starts is very professional, like he’s done it forever,’’ Sox right-hander Davis Martin told the Sun-Times. ‘‘And then the final piece is his just extremely competitive nature. He wants to beat everybody. He wants to be better than anyone he faces.’’

Smith’s competitiveness is best shown when he doesn’t think he had a good outing. His sentences are brief but brutally honest.

‘‘Just got to do my job when I get out there,’’ Smith said.