One young Chicago White Sox pitcher got some good news. Another pitcher hopes to avoid getting potentially bad news.
Shane Smith officially received the news that he made the 26-man Opening Day roster.
From Rule 5 pick to making the Opening Day roster. Congrats, Shane! pic.twitter.com/wejZBzkR9i
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) March 20, 2025
It is a good thing he did make the initial roster. Otherwise, the White Sox would have had to offer back the No. 1 pick in the Rule 5 Draft to Milwaukee.
The bad news is pitcher Drew Thorpe left a minor league game early with what manager Will Venable described as elbow discomfort.
Drew Thorpe left a minor league game early with a trainer. Update from Will Venable:
— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) March 20, 2025
“It sounds like discomfort of the elbow. We’ll likely do some imaging.
It’s really unfortunate. He’s been working so hard and we hope that this is just a hiccup and he can get back on track”
That is another reason it is good Smith made the team since Thorpe is having another setback from the elbow surgery he had last year to remove a bone spur.
This latest issue Thorpe is having with his elbow likely means Smith will be the team's fifth starter.
The White Sox were facing a potentially tough decision with who to go with at that spot between the two.
Thorpe was destined to start the season on the 15-day IL due to already being behind in camp after he had initial setback from that elbow surgery that prematurely ended his promising 2024 season.
However, he was making enough progress that he could have been ready by the time the Sox will likely need a fifth starter. The team could drag out needing a fifth starter until mid-April with all the off days built into the schedule at the start of the season.
Now that Thorpe has had another setback, the hope is this latest discomfort is nothing serious, especially since the team has been racking up serious elbow injuries during camp.
Promising prospect Ky Bush was supposed to compete for a rotation spot before that got derailed at the start of spring training when he needed Tommy John surgery. Prelander Berroa was being counted on to be one of the team's high-leverage relievers, but he too has been lost for the season after he needed Tommy John.
Promising pitching prospects Juan Carela and Blake Larson have also been lost for the season after needing the same procedure. Top 15 prospect Mason Adams left a spring training start with elbow discomfort.
This is why it was good the Sox added another promising pitcher in the Rule 5 Draft.
It is awful to see four promising arms lost for the season plus the fear two more could be lost if Adams and Thorpe need surgery. However, the Sox farm system has a lot of pitching depth.
It could not hurt to add one more like the team did getting Smith after the Brewers elected to not add him to their 40-man roster thus leaving him eligible for the Rule 5 Draft.
Smith has been excellent in spring training outside of one terrible inning during his first spring training start.
However, he could be excused for having nerves even if it was an exhibition game.
He showed his former team what it is missing when he allowed no runs in four innings against the Brewers in yesterday's spring training game. He lowered his Cactus League ERA to 3.38
Smith will provide another power arm to the rotation since Thorpe's tremendous off-speed stuff is looking at a longer injured list stay.