Pregame notes: Shane Smith’s second month

The journey from wondering if Shane Smith will make the roster to wondering if he will be the team's All-Star representative has occurred in a relatively short period of time. Looking for a developmental win to tout, the White Sox have a Rule 5 pick whose 32 1/3 innings of 181 ERA+ baseball already outstrips the median production from such an acquisition.

"With any Rule 5 pick you are looking for a quality major league player," Brian Bannister said. "Most teams would call it a success if that’s a quality reliever. It’s hard to pick a pitcher in the Rule 5 and expect him to be a really good starter right away.

He’s usually making a jump in levels. He usually is lacking in experience or has been dealing with injuries which is why he’s available and wasn’t protected. We know we liked his physicality. We knew we liked his fastball performance, his ability to spin the ball. What he’s gone out and done and the work he’s put in has just been outstanding. I want him to be one of the more successful Rule 5 picks."

But with all due pats on the back, the strikeout rate (19.5 percent) hasn't quite lined up with the results nor simply the eye test of how many bats Smith's lively stuff should miss. His uniquely hard seam effects changeup has been a game-changer for Smith's profile, but his slider hasn't generated the chases (under 20 percent) you'd expect.

Pitching coach Ethan Katz said Smith's slider was looking and playing more like a cutter in spring, rather than a swing-and-miss offering, and so his opening month had him trying out and calibrating a new version.

"Even in the minors last year against righties it wasn't a big swing-and-miss pitch," Katz said. "Then in Live BP he had somebody 0-2 and he threw a good cutter down and away and they hit it for a double. So I got to see it in person and in my mind, I thought we needed to create a better slider. We need to kill some vert, we need to get some horizontal. He did that it in spring and now that's what he's throwing. We targeted three and three, three [inches of] horizontal, three [inches of] vert and it's kind of where he's at right now. It's perfect and he knows when he throws it 93-94 mph that it's getting very cuttery and we want it targeting that 89-90 mph range."

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Andrew Benintendi is out of the lineup after getting pulled mid-game Sunday for left calf tightness.

The White Sox traded for 27-year-old Triple-A right-hander Evan McKendry, sending cash to the Brewers in exchange. McKendry had a 6.43 ERA in seven innings so far in his fourth year at the Triple-A level.

First pitch: White Sox at Royals

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