My alphabetical-ish review of the White Sox 2025 roster —@SoxNerd style — continues with a look at SHANE SMITH:
*Smith’s 145 strikeouts were the most by a White Sox rookie righty and are second on the Sox rookie list behind Gary Peters’ 189 in 1963 … Smith was third among MLB rookies in strikeouts behind the Yankees’ Will Warren’s 171 and Texas’ Jack Leiter’s 148.
*The last Sox rookie who threw at least 146 innings and had a lower ERA than Smith’s 3.81 was Melido Perez at 3.79 in 1988
*Smith tied Davis Martin for the Sox lead with seven victories
*Smith is the first rookie to lead or share the Sox lead in victories since Matt Foster in 2020
*Smith’s 29 starts led the team and were the most by a Sox rookie since 1980 when Britt Burns and Richard Dotson both made 32 starts.
*Smith was also the first rookie to lead the Sox in starts since Dotson and Burns in 1980. He was the first rookie to be the sole leader in starts since John Whitehead did it with 27 in 1935.
*Smith’s team-best innings – 146 – were the most by a Sox frosh since James Baldwin’s 169 in 1996. He was the first rookie to lead the Sox in innings since Perez’s 197 in 1988
*Smith’s 29 starts were the most by a Sox rookie pitcher since Perez’s 32 in 1988
*Smith’s 12 hit-by-pitches are tied for the third-most by a rookie in Six history behind Jim “Death Valley” Scott’s 16 in 1909 and Mike Cvengros’ 13 in 1923. Scott Carroll in 2014 was the last Sox rookie to hit 12 men in a season.
*Smith’s average of 7.2 hits allowed per nine innings is the lowest by a Sox rookie (min. 145 innings) since Gary Peters’ 7.1 in his Rookie of the Year campaign of 1963. It was the lowest output by a Sox rookie righty since Scott’s 7.0 in 1909 … The average was second lowest among rookies in 2025 to Kansas City’s Noah Cameron’s 7.1
*Sept. 16 marked the first time in Sox history that two No. 64s squared off on the mound when Smith and the Orioles’ Dean Kremer started against each other
*Smith’s start on April 1st marked the time a pitcher named Smith made a start on the mound for the Sox in 78 years. Smith’s MLB debut was the first start by a Sox pitcher with the United States’ most common last name since July 10, 1947 when Eddie Smith took the loss in Washington
*Smith made the 51st appearance by a White Sox pitcher in an All-Star Game in the 2025 mid-summer classic in Atlanta
*Smith was the first rookie pitcher to represent the Sox in an All-Star Game and the first Rule 5 pick to be an All-Star the season after being selected in the Rule 5 draft since 2006 (Dan Uggla)
*Smith hit the first batter he faced in an All-Star Game. He became the first to do that since Washington’s Don Stenhouse plunked Pittsburgh’s Dick Groat to open the 1962 game at Wrigley Field. The only other hurler to do this was the Yankees Spud Chandler who hit the Browns’ Jimmy Brown to start the 1942 game at the Polo Grounds.
*Smith, Chris Sale in 2014 and Gossage in 1975 are the only Sox pitchers to hit a batter in an All-Star Game
*Smith’s outing of 1/3rd of an inning was short but it wasn’t the shortest by a Sox pitcher in an All-Star Game. That distinction belongs to Jason Bere, who failed to get an out in losing the 1994 game in Pittsburgh. Smith, Sandy Consuegra in 1954, Matt Thornton in 2010 and Liam Hendriks in 2022 are Sox pitchers to throw 1/3rd of a frame in an All-Star Game.
*Smith faced just two batters in his All-Star outing. That is tied for the second-fewest in Sox star history behind Hendriks’ one in 2022.
*Smith’s 10 pitches in 2025 are the seventh-fewest by a Sox pitcher in an All-Star Game since 1994. The least amount pitches by a Sox rep in an All-Star Game in that span was Hendriks’ three in 2022
*Smith’s outing dropped the Sox ERA to 3.16 in 35 All-Star appearances.
NEXT: Lenyn Sosa