All-Star rookie campaign puts Shane Smith in driver's seat for White Sox' Opening Day start

GLENDALE, Ariz. — What a difference a year makes for White Sox starter Shane Smith.

This time last February, the right-hander was busy clawing his way onto the roster as a Rule 5 Draft pick. He arrived this week at Camelback Ranch as the most obvious early choice to start on Opening Day.

Making the All-Star Game as a rookie will do that for a guy, especially on a developing squad that still lacks a clear-cut ace. Not that Smith’s thinking about it.

“I’m just thinking about Friday,” Smith said, looking ahead only to his next bullpen session scheduled for later this week.

Not so much for Smith’s teammate Davis Martin, a friend and mentor — and competitor — who’s already got an eye on the March 26 season-opener at Milwaukee.

“I already told Shane, ‘I know you're the favorite by a long shot, but you'd be remiss to think that all the other starters are just going to hand it to you,’” Martin said. “So he knows he's in for a fight.”

Most observers would agree with Martin’s Opening Day odds-making.

Smith led the Sox in his inaugural campaign with 145 strikeouts and 146⅓ innings pitched behind a 96-mph fastball and knee-buckling and changeup, en route to a 7-8 record over 29 starts.

With those numbers on the books, his second spring training comes with a little less stress.

“You're not fighting for your life every time you touch the ball. That’s a little different,” Smith said. “But I think the approach of what I want to do to hitters is still the same.”

The Boston-area native spent much of the offseason focusing on “making the mechanics as consistent as possible.” That could help him avoid the midseason slump he hit before his scoreless third of an inning during the All-Star game as the Sox’ sole representative.

“I want to see if I can get my slider to be a more reusable pitch this year. Got away from it, but want to see what it looks like this year, and if I can make an adjustment on it, it'll be great,” said Smith, who turns 26 in April.

And just like Martin was to him, the second-year starter says he’s trying to serve as a role model “of what you want the rotation to look like, and be a good example for the guys that want to be on it.”

Smith, Martin and Anthony Kay — freshly signed from an impressive stint in Japan — seem to be the only locks for the Sox’ starting rotation, at least before any of the inevitable bumps and bruises that come with spring training.

Sean Burke and Jonathan Cannon were both in the mix for last year’s Opening Day start, but they find themselves fighting for rotation spots after an up-and-down 2025 that saw both of them demoted to Triple-A Charlotte.

But that’s nothing new for a close-knit pitching staff.

“At the end of the day, that's all we're doing — we're competitors,” said Martin, who posted a 4.10 ERA in 25 starts last season, his first full campaign with the Sox after recovering from Tommy John surgery.

“We love competing against each other and wherever that ends up, we're gonna be happy for those people. But then the in-season competition starts,” he said. “There will be some verbal sparring for sure.”

Will Venable demurred as any manager would when asked about his Opening Day starter on the second day of camp.

But Venable said Smith “looks great” a year removed from his breakout.

“This is a guy who came into camp last year as a Rule 5 guy, not an easy thing to do, and you saw how quickly he embraced that and performed at a really high level,” Venable said. “This year he's got that under his belt, he doesn't have the pressure of being a Rule 5 guy — I'm not sure that it really impacted him at all anyway. If anything, it helped him.”