The White Sox are confident their plan for All-Star righty Shane Smith won’t -include skipping starts or shutting him down early.
Manager Will Venable said Friday that Smith, whom the Sox have monitored closely throughout his rookie season, is on track to make his starts the remainder of the campaign.
“We just move forward start by start with him,” Venable said. “Having benefited from that break [while on the injured list following the All-Star break], he can continue to make his starts and we should be in an OK spot.
“We’re just taking it start by start, and as things change — and rest in between starts might fluctuate — maybe it’s a five-inning start and not pushing him in the sixth. But He’s in a good spot to go ahead and make his starts for the rest of the year.”
Smith, whom the Sox took with the first pick in the Rule 5 draft last December, has had an up-and-down second half after a sensational start. He posted a 2.37 ERA in his first 13 starts, but he followed with a 9.93 ERA in his next six outings, failing to complete five innings in any of them. He has returned to normal-length starts since, going five innings, five innings and six innings, while allowing a combined six runs, in his last three.
“You know that every player’s going to go through their ups and downs and that it’s really about what it looks like when you get back on track and the process to do that,” Venable said. “He’s done a great job. He works extremely hard. The coaches talk about it all the time, his teammates talk about it all the time, that he’s just a guy that’s 100-percent dedicated to this and doing everything he can to be better.
“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.”
Managing his innings is part of the Sox’ long-term outlook for Smith, who has emerged as a building block for the team’s rotation of the future. He’s at 107 innings this season, well past the 94„ he threw in the minor leagues in 2024.
Rojas removed
In bringing up Korey Lee as a third catcher, the Sox moved on from infielder Josh Rojas, designating the seven-year veteran for assignment after signing him to a free-agent deal in the offseason.
Rojas suffered a toe injury during spring training that delayed his Sox debut till early May.
“Tough to move on from him. I want to thank him for his contributions,” Venable said. “He was great for us in the clubhouse. I know [it wasn’t] the performance he was looking for on the field, but he made a huge impact and is somebody we are going to miss.”
Rojas hit .180 with a .512 OPS in 69 games, and by one measure, he was perhaps the worst hitter in baseball, his wRC-plus of 48 ranking dead last among 297 major-leaguers with at least 210 plate appearances entering play Friday.
Montgomery mashes
Shortstop Colson Montgomery homered and doubled in the Sox’ 9-7 loss to the Twins. It was the rookie’s first multihit game since Aug. 3.
Between the two two-hit performances, he batted just .143 in a 14-game stretch.