Shane Smith's All-Star caliber season is about to make White Sox history

By rule, the Chicago White Sox must have at least one representative in the MLB All-Star Game despite being the worst team in the American League. Thankfully, they have a player who is worthy of not just being a token selection.

Shane Smith has been great during a rookie season. At the moment, he looks like a lock to be the team's All-Star representative. His fellow rookie teammate, Chase Meidroth also has a case, along with Miguel Vargas.

Smith is really set apart by the fact that he has been consistently good all season long. Meidroth had a to wait a few weeks before making his big league debut and Vargas had a terrible few weeks to start the season.

Smith put the baseball world on notice with a stellar MLB debut against the Minnesota Twins on April 1 in which he went 5.2 innings and allowed only two runs. He has continued to be impressive from then on.

Outside of one bad outing against the New York Mets and his defense failing him against the Cubs last month, Smith has made it almost impossible for opposing clubs to score runs with his nasty change-up and 4-seam fastball. If he can keep honing his slider and curveball into a knockout pitch, then he will continue his ascent toward ace status.

In 12 start this season, Smith has a 2.45 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 62.1 innings. He is trending toward being one of the biggest steals to ever come out of the Rule 5 Draft. The White Sox owe the Milwaukee Brewers a huge thank you for not placing him on their 40-man roster, thus exposing him to the Rule 5 Draft, where the Sox took him first overall.

If Smith does end up making the All-Star Game roster, it will make up for the White Sox not receiving the top pick in the MLB Draft despite their historically awful 2024 season.

Smith can make franchise history

Smith can also make franchise history if he is selected as the team's All-Star representative. He would become the first White Sox rookie All-Star since Jose Abreu back in 2014 and the first rookie pitcher to ever accomplish that in franchise history.

An organization that has produced All-Star starting pitchers like Garrett Crochet, Chris Sale, Carlos Rodón, Mark Buehrle, Jack McDowell, "Goose" Gossage, and Billy Pierce has never seen a rookie pitcher be named an All-Star.

Smith has a strong case right now with a 2.45 ERA, a 3.53 FIP, a 1.14 WHIP, 60 strikeouts, and a 1.3 fWAR in 12 starts. His advanced metrics are eye-popping.

Even more impressive is that he typically renders the opponent's lineup useless by allowing just 46 hits and 17 earned runs over 62.1 innings.

Smith's season is progressing much like Garrett Crochet's All-Star campaign did for the White Sox last season. He pounds the strike zone with pitches that are hard for hitters to square up and make hard contact.

Crochet experienced some struggles in early April last year and then took off. Smith had a little blip on the radar toward the end of May, but his last start against the Detroit Tigers - the best team in baseball - was immaculate. That leaves me optimistic that he can continue on the path toward being a stud.

I also love seeing how humble Smith was after shutting down one of the best lineups in baseball.

It would be huge for Smith to be the first rookie pitcher to make an All-Star team, given that the White Sox have a rich history of great pitchers. Smith can top them all by representing the Sox at the Midsummer Classic.

Then, the hope is that he joins those great pitchers by being a frontline starter for the White Sox. For now, it's one start at a time.