After an All-Star rookie season in 2025, right-hander Shane Smith has been named the Chicago White Sox Opening Day starter and will take the mound against the Brewers on March 26.
It’s not much of a surprise, but the Chicago White Sox have made it official: right-handed pitcher Shane Smith will take the mound against the Milwaukee Brewers on March 26 as Chicago’s Opening Day starter.
Smith was the most obvious choice after a tremendous rookie season in 2025 that landed him on the American League All-Star team. He finished the year with a 7–8 record, a 3.81 ERA, and 145 strikeouts across 146.1 innings.
Still just 25 years old, Smith is already showing the potential to become one of the best young starting pitchers in the American League. Right now, he serves as the anchor of the White Sox rotation—and there’s still plenty of room for him to get even better.
Smith getting the ball against the Brewers is not only deserved, but also fitting. Chicago acquired him in the Rule 5 Draft after he was left unprotected and off Milwaukee’s 40-man roster last winter.
Smith originally signed with the Brewers as an undrafted free agent in July 2021 and worked his way through their minor league system while posting a 2.69 ERA. He climbed as high as Triple-A Nashville in the organization before ultimately landing with the White Sox, where he was given a legitimate opportunity at the big-league level—and he hasn’t looked back since.
The one area of the White Sox roster that still gives me pause heading into 2026 is the starting rotation. While Chicago has made strides in several areas, there’s a real possibility the pitching staff could take a step back, which would make it more difficult for the club to take another leap in the standings.
But Shane Smith is one of the pitchers I feel the most confident about. In fact, it’s hard to think of a better choice to set the tone—not just for the rotation, but for a White Sox season that suddenly has a lot of excitement surrounding it.
The players in the clubhouse expect to win, and getting off to a strong start in the regular season would go a long way toward reinforcing that mindset.
Smith is a known leader, and he’s well deserving of the honor that comes with being named the Opening Day starter.
This will mark the fifth different Opening Day starting pitcher for the White Sox in the last five seasons. Lucas Giolito took the ball in 2022, followed by Dylan Cease in 2023, Garrett Crochet in 2024, and Sean Burke in 2025.
But if Smith delivers the kind of season the White Sox are hoping for, he could easily find himself in this same position again next year—and for several years to come.