WATCH: White Sox Rookie Shane Smith Strikes Out Career-High Seven Against Twins

White Sox rookie right-hander Shane Smith tossed five scoreless innings with a career-high seven strikeouts Thursday against the Minnesota Twins.

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Shane Smith (64) throws against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

MINNEAPOLIS – Shane Smith was dealing yet again on Thursday versus the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.

The 25-year-old rookie right-hander has been a bright spot for the 5-19 White Sox, entering his fifth start ranked third in opponents' slugging (.231), fourth in batting average (.167), fourth in OPS (.509) and 12th in ERA (2.82) among American League pitchers with at least 22 innings.

He had one of his best starts of the season on Thursday, finishing with 82 pitches, five innings, four hits, zero earned runs, one walk and a career-high seven strikeouts. His full arsenal was working against the Twins, striking out three batters with his four-seam fastball, two with his slider and one with his changeup and curveball.

Here are the highlights.

Shane Smith 🔥

The @WhiteSox rookie fans 7 over 5 scoreless frames. pic.twitter.com/bdWsOesLcw

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 24, 2025

Whether Smith gets his first win of the season hangs in the balance as the game entered a rain delay with the White Sox leading the Twins 3-0 through seven innings. Regardless, he's been a steal for the White Sox since they acquired him with the No. 1 overall pick in December's Rule 5 Draft from Milwaukee.

According to Codify Baseball, Smith is one of seven pitchers to pitch 27-plus innings in their first five MLB starts and give up no more than 23 total bases. Others include Kerry Wood in 1998, Matt Cain in 2005, Freddy Peralta in 2018, Chris Paddack and Jordan Yamamoto in 2019 and Bryce Miller in 2023.

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