CHICAGO –– Shane Smith went into spring training simply trying to make the team. Tuesday night, he’ll represent the Chicago White Sox in the 2025 MLB All-Star game.

That has made for an unprecedented first half for Smith, who’s the first rookie pitcher in White Sox history to make the All-Star team.

“With the names that have been through here before, it’s really surprising,” Smith said on July 7. “You know, it’s really cool to be in the history books like that. Yeah, it was definitely surprising when I saw that.”

“It was tough to sleep last night, thinking about what the next week will look like and trying to understand where I’ve been and where I’m trying to go. Just really thankful, really grateful for the opportunity and running with it best I can. You know, looking to put my best foot forward from here on out and enjoy Atlanta.”

The unlikelihood of Smith’s selection doesn’t stop there. The 25-year-old is just the second player in MLB history to make an All-Star team in the year following his Rule 5 Draft selection. That hasn’t been done since Dan Uggla in 2006 with the Florida Marlins.

Smith is also the seventh White Sox rookie to be named an All-Star, the first since Jose Abreu in 2014. Just two years ago, he spent most of his season in Single-A as part of the Milwaukee Brewers organization.

To make that large of a jump in such a short amount of time makes Smith grateful to be with the White Sox, who certainly share that sentiment in turn. He said he often thinks about the phone call he received on Dec. 11, 2024, when they told him he’d be on the 40-man roster.

The opportunity the White Sox have given me is hopefully the launching of my big league career. Most certainly my rookie year,” Smith said.

“It’s pretty tough to, you know, [overstate] kind of what they’ve done for me,” Smith said. “You know, if I didn’t get taken by them, who knows what this year would look like for me. You know, to [Ethan] Katz and [Will] Venable and [Chris] Getz and the front office to take a chance on me in the Rule 5, which you never really know how it’s gonna work out for you. I’m gonna take that chance and for me to take advantage of it is, you know, a mutual mutual benefit for both of us.”

While Smith has made team history in his first 18 major league starts, he’s been the first to admit they haven’t all gone smooth. The same day he was named an All-Star, he gave up five earned runs in 4.1 innings in a loss to the Colorado Rockies, who were 21-69 at the time.

That made it a bit more difficult for Smith to enjoy his All-Star selection, but it also gave him some perspective on the season overall.

“I definitely didn’t soak it in yesterday after the outing,” Smith said. “Kind of took me to get home, off of the flight and to really sit with it. Just the way things have been going really hasn’t — you know, gettin’ punched in the face every couple of days, it’s tough to kind of realize the body of work that you’ve done over the last couple of months. 
But I think I’ve just got to take the good with the bad. You know, realize that I’ve been struggling, but also realize kind of the body of work that, you know, the first 10, 11 starts was.”

His outing against the Rockies was part of a four-start stretch in which Smith allowed 21 earned runs in 15.1 innings and saw his ERA rise from 2.37 through his first 13 starts to 4.20 after 17 outings.

Opponents were bound to catch up to Smith eventually, something that happens to all rookies. He remains demanding of himself, but the recent stretch has also taught him how to deal with the ups and downs of a long season.

“I try not to beat myself up over it. You have the first couple of bad ones, but then you realize, like, I’m putting in the steps to go in the right direction,” Smith said. “So, yeah, I’m hard on myself, but I also take the good with the bad. And it just takes me a little longer to see the good, but I recognize it.”

“I think it’s realizing maybe I’m not doing everything as wrong as I think I am. You’re still executing some good pitches, you’re still, your stuff is still good. You just, you’re not executing as much as you’d like. You know, it could be selection over execution, it could be execution over selection, so one bad pitch can’t ruin a day, but if you continue to do things the same, you don’t learn from your mistakes, I think that’s what kind of gets under my skin.”

Smith’s last start before the All-Star break came on Friday against the Guardians. The White Sox limited him to just three innings and a season-low 46 pitches, knowing that he’s already close to his season-high of 94.1 innings from last season in the minor leagues. General manager Chris Getz said they’re keeping Smith’s long-term health in mind and don’t want to run him into the ground as a rookie.

Smith gave up a pair of solo home runs –– Cleveland’s only two hits in three innings –– while striking out five batters and walking none. Though it was a shorter start than usual by design, he saw it as a positive step.

“I think if I do a lot of what I did today that will help me a lot,” Smith said postgame. “Again, fastballs elevated late in counts, throwing spin for strikes, throwing changeups again for strikes against lefty hitters, and then the one righty I threw two good sliders and got an out. If I can build on that right there, that puts me in the right direction.”

Smith heads into the All-Star game with 18 starts under his belt, along with a 4.26 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 37 walks and 81 strikeouts across his first 86.2 innings in the big leagues. Excited would be an understatement for Smith, who’s looking forward to picking other pitchers’ brains and seeing how they handle the big stage.

He’ll be in the same locker room as Cy Young winners like Tarik Skubal and Jacob deGrom, plus several World Series champions and perennial All-Stars. His last start was intentionally cut short to preserve innings, but there’ll be no hesitation from Smith if American League manager Aaron Boone calls for No. 64.

“If they give me the ball, I’m definitely going to throw,” Smith said. “No matter what.

When summing up his first half, Smith reflected on the positives, the adversity and the way he wants to cap off his rookie year.

“I think an All-Star Game with that is a really good way to put it,” Smith said. “But a lot of growth as a pitcher and as a person. Being in the big leagues for the first time is a lot to take in. Took it in stride for a lot of it. Maybe it caught up to me for the last month, but that’s baseball and that’s life. Really looking forward to putting a strong second half together.”