Smith gets 1st career OD start ... and he'll be facing his original team

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- It’s rarely good news when a player is called into a manager’s office, with the general manager also in attendance for the impromptu meeting.

Rarely good news, that is, unless you are Shane Smith.

The 25-year-old was informed last Spring Training about making the team during the aforementioned meeting. But on Sunday, with his 2025 All-Star campaign planted firmly on his résumé, Smith was selected as the 2026 White Sox Opening Day starter by manager Will Venable.

“I wanted that so bad,” Smith said on a video shared by the White Sox after getting emotional when Venable delivered the message.

“Still processing a lot of it,” Smith added when meeting the media after working through pickoffs on the White Sox back fields. “It means a lot to me, and [it means] a lot for the White Sox to believe in me to start the season on a strong note. A year can change a lot of things, 18 months can change a lot of things in life. Really grateful to be here and represent the White Sox on Opening Day.”

Saying a lot can change in 18 months would be the ultimate understatement for the right-hander.

Smith was selected from Milwaukee by Chicago with the top pick of the 2024 Rule 5 Draft. Nothing was guaranteed, nothing was given as he came to Glendale, Ariz., for his first White Sox Spring Training.

His inaugural season wasn’t without pitfalls, as Smith had a 12.33 ERA over four starts from June 17 to July 6. But he finished on a very high note by carrying a perfect game into the sixth against the Nationals on the last day of the season.

Now, Smith will be facing the Brewers in Milwaukee via this Opening Day nod coming on March 26, as general manager Chris Getz reminded him in their Sunday morning meeting. It will be Smith’s first visit to the city one week before his birthday on April 4.

“There’s no ill feelings toward them by any means,” said Smith of Milwaukee, which signed him as a free agent out of Wake Forest on July 27, 2021. “It will be cool. I work out with Sal Frelick in the offseason, so I know him really well. A lot of my good buddies are still over there. I hope they are on the Opening Day roster and I can see them after Opening Day.

“So, first time going there, being with the White Sox, it will be a little ironic. But yeah, Opening Day against anybody, it’s an honor.”

Pitching coach Zach Bove, assistant pitching coach Bobby Hearn and bullpen coach Matt Wise were in Venable’s office when this important news was delivered. Hearn, 29, and Smith were teammates for one season at Wake Forest and are together again in the coach/player roles, but remain friends.

“To have this come full circle is really cool,” Hearn told MLB.com during a recent interview. “We picked it up right where we left off.”

“Somebody [who], obviously from a performance standpoint, has put himself in that category of guys we want at the front of our rotation,” Venable said of Smith. “But also as a teammate and a leader in our clubhouse, he’s a guy that sets an example for our group and is really emerging as a leader in the clubhouse.”

Venable added further decisions on the rotation have been made, but they would be shared when appropriate. As of now, Anthony Kay and Davis Martin appear to be the next two in line behind Smith.

Sunday’s focus centered upon the excitement surrounding Smith, who finished with a 3.81 ERA over 29 starts and topped the team with 145 strikeouts and 146 1/3 innings pitched in 2025. He will join the ranks of Mark Buehrle, Billy Pierce and Chris Sale as some of the more prominent White Sox hurlers to start on Opening Day.

Smith also becomes the fifth different White Sox Opening Day pitcher in the past five seasons, following Sean Burke, Garrett Crochet, Dylan Cease and Lucas Giolito. It was the best sort of news possible as he entered Venable’s office, and Smith immediately shared the announcement with his parents and girlfriend.

“I’ve only received good news in that office. But every time I go in there, I’m still nervous. Walked out with better news,” a smiling Smith said. “I try not to compare things. Comparison is a thief of joy, but similar feeling of just trying to work your butt off to achieve a goal.

“Last year it was making the team. Opening Day was what I wanted. Being on a team first and foremost, but Opening Day is what I was striving for. So just to get that was a really good feeling.”