Saturday, August 23

CHICAGO -- What’s next for Shane Smith?

In the short term, the White Sox right-hander should start against the Royals and probably the Yankees during this 10-game homestand without an off-day. But the focus here falls upon Smith’s 2026 season with the White Sox and beyond.

The right-hander has delivered an impressive rookie campaign, moving from the top pick in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft to the team’s lone All-Star representative in ’25. As for that follow-up, with hitters across MLB adjusting to his repertoire, the 25-year-old doesn’t want to wait even a week to currently implement any sort of needed change.

“I’m going to try not to think about the offseason,” Smith told me during an interview in Atlanta. “There are things I could do in the offseason, but I don’t think there’s any reason I can’t do it for the last eight starts, seven, six, whatever it is.

“It’s fill the zone, make guys put the ball in play. If they can’t, then strike them out. It's something I’ve tried to do after the break. If I get to two strikes, put them away. If your two-strike fastballs are in the middle of the zone, it’s really hard to get strikeouts. But if you get those four or five, six inches higher, you will get swings and misses you didn’t think were there.

“That’s the biggest thing,” Smith added. “Pound it down every day. You are not worried about the results as much, but I still think it’s all things that are doable this year.”

Over Smith’s first 13 starts, he posted a 2.37 ERA as one of the more effective starters in the game. Smith yielded 23 earned runs over 18 1/3 innings covering the ensuing five starts going into the All-Star break, with 10 walks and five home runs against 17 strikeouts in that stretch.

Since his appearance at the Midsummer Classic in Atlanta, where he hurled scoreless baseball for one-third of an inning, Smith has a 3.54 ERA in four starts with 21 strikeouts, 10 walks and four home runs in 20 1/3 innings. His innings total is at 107 with his strikeout total reaching 102 during his last start at Truist Park Tuesday, both representing career highs, of course.

There are clearly more goals to be reached in the years to come above these early milestones.

“Our coaches talk about it all the time, his teammates talk about it all the time that he's just a guy 100 percent dedicated to this and doing everything he can to be better,” White Sox manager Will Venable said of Smith. “It's nice to see him succeed and then have tough spots and then go right back to being where he wants to be. The overall progression of his development this year has been great.”

“I remember I hit 100 strikeouts last year in Double-A and that was really cool for me,” Smith said. “Then you see Tarik Skubal hit 200. There’s levels to the game and obviously, he’s a Cy Young winner. You can’t expect to be the best right out of the gate. … They are benchmarks, but hopefully pushing-off points and hopefully the floor of what you try to do every year. But it’s really cool to hit 107 innings and to have the body of work to be able to do it is really cool with the strikeouts.”

Although Smith missed two weeks with a left ankle sprain after the break, his innings still will be watched over the final five weeks. Smith would like to throw as many as possible but understands this season will look different than a full year after getting time under his belt.

“You want to strike everybody out, because that’s what really good pitchers do. If I don’t give up hits a ton, and I’m not striking people out, I can’t really give up the walks,” Smith said, who has 47 walks overall but has allowed just 91 hits. “That’s how I stabbed myself in the back a couple of times this year. Walk a guy, give up a home run. A solo home run doesn’t kill you, but two-run home runs because you walk a guy kills you.

“Be more efficient. Throw more innings. You throw more innings, and you get more strikeouts, and all those things happen together … I’m trying to fill up the zone the rest of the year, even with two strikes. Not beat myself. Definitely a focus is to be efficient as possible, so I can get into the sixth inning more often than not.”

• The White Sox began a challenging run of 17 games in 17 days Friday night against the Twins. There are eight games scheduled at night during this ongoing homestand, with day games only this and the following Sunday.

• It’s always great to talk baseball with Chris Sale, who is one of the best clubhouse presences I’ve ever covered, as well as being one of the game’s truly elite starters.

• The Ryne Sandberg funeral Friday was very moving and a tremendous celebration for a tremendous individual. The speeches were outstanding.

• In honor of Friday’s Elvis Night at Rate Field, I’m picking "In the Ghetto" as the King’s all-time best song.

• I had an Alexei Ramirez bobblehead, depicting the shortstop’s grand slam against the Tigers in the 2008 after-season makeup game victory, sending the White Sox to the thrilling Blackout game against the Twins the next day. Had, is the operative word, as it slipped off my kitchen counter and split into four pieces. Side note: The Blackout game remains the single-most exciting contest I’ve covered in 23 years on the beat.

“They know already. I think next year's going to be a good year for this organization, and if they give me the chance, I want to be part of the good years. Like I told you guys before in Spring Training, we're going to surprise people, and I think we're doing it. Next year's going to be better, more experience. We know more [about] each other, and I think that's a good thing for us.” -- Veteran southpaw Martín Pérez, on wanting to return to the White Sox in 2026

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