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  "path": "/white-sox/2026/03/09/sox-assistant-pitching-coach-bobby-hearn-has-known-shane-smith-since-their-time-together-at-wake-forest",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-09T22:42:16.815Z",
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  "textContent": "<p>GLENDALE, Ariz. — Bobby Hearn, as an assistant <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox\" >White Sox</a> pitching coach and briefly a teammate to Shane Smith at Wake Forest, has a unique perspective about what’s going on with the staff and the right-hander who’s been tabbed as the Opening Day starter at Milwaukee on March 26.</p><p>Smith came out of high school in Massachusetts with a right-shoulder injury and had to survive that and an elbow problem during his years at Wake Forest. Consequently, the Brewers signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2021, beginning his Major League Baseball journey.</p><p>“Since I graduated from high school my baseball career has never been the same,” Smith said Monday after the announcement. “I’ve never been on any prospect lists. I’ve never been a Top 30 prospect for any team.”</p><p>On Tuesday prior to the Sox playing the Rockies in a Cactus League game at Camelback Ranch, Hearn explained the dynamics of Smith’s statement.</p><p>Hearn, at 29, is every bit as young as he looks.</p><p>“If you’re not a good player you have to coach early,” Hearn quipped.</p><p>But really, then.</p><p>“We both definitely had our ups and downs in college,” Hearn said about his relationship with Smith. “He had a pretty tough couple of years because of injuries starting with the shoulder and an elbow after that. Some tough moments for him. It’s really cool to see him persevere through that.”</p><p>Milwaukee, though, determined Smith had enough stuff when they signed him.</p><p>“When he was at Wake Forest and he stepped on campus you could see the talent,” Hearn said. “He threw hard. Unfortunately, he just couldn’t stay on the field. It was just one of those opportunities where Milwaukee saw something and decided to take a shot on him.”</p><p>But not enough of a shot to keep him in the organization. After three seasons in their minor league system, the Brewers left Smith unprotected and the Sox selected him in the 2024 Rule 5 draft. That comes with some strings attached.</p><p>The cost to the drafting team is $100,000 for the pick, which must remain in the league for the entire following season. In Smith’s case, that was 2025 for the Sox. If not, he must be offered back to the originating team at $50,000. Alternatively, the team could arrange a player swap to keep him.</p><p>Smith excelled, winning seven of his first 10 decisions and earning the nod as the Sox' sole selection to the 2025 American League All-Star squad. He was off to the races and Hearn arrived this past season aa an assistant under new pitching coach Zach Bove.</p><p>“We stayed in touch, relatively,” Hearns said. “Obviously now we’re in day-to-day communication. There are a lot of similarities to what he did in college, which has been funny, but also cool to see. His preparation is unmatched. He took that kind of care he was doing daily to another level.”</p><p>Of course, Smith is not Hearn’s only pitcher to cultivate in his new role with the team. The Sox have yet to designate the remainder of the starting rotation behind Smith, although Davis Martin, Anthony Kay, Sean Burke and Sean Newcoomb seem to be the obvious candidates.</p><p>Hearn found a pliable hierarchy to work under manager Will Venable and Bove. He also found a pitching staff, which is currently still under construction.</p><p>“The culture on the baseball staff has been phenomenal,” Hearn said. “I’ve had a relationship with Zach, but Will has made it incredibly easy to join the group and be yourself. We’ve had a lot of ideas bouncing off the walls. Everyone has a voice. Everyone has an opinion. It’s a great group.”</p><p>About molding the staff, he added: “There’s a ton of talent here. There are a lot of young guys continuing to establish themselves. You want them to feel comfortable. You want them to feel confident, but you need to be very direct with them about what they need to do to get better. I’ve been pretty impressed with their ability to navigate and manage that.”</p><p></p><div class=\"PageListL\" data-module data-hide-authors=\"true\" data-hide-categories=\"true\" data-hide-dates=\"true\" data-show-loadmore=\"true\" ><a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"list-4a0005\" name=\"list-4a0005\"></a><div class=\"PageList-header\" > <div class=\"PageList-header-title-wrap\" > <div class=\"PageList-header-title\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox\" target=\"{borderColor=#dfdfdf, pageNumber=1, inverseColors=false, footerBgColor=#000000, bodyFont=font-3, pagination=[{body=[Next Page], href=?p=2, _template=/link/Link.hbs, contentId=null, pianoSectionSlug=null, target=null}], showListNumbers=false, imagePositionHorizontal=null, rteBodyFont=font-3, headerBottomBorderColor=#111010, subTitle=null, stickyHeader=true, listTitleColor=#000000, tableCellBorderColor=#ccd1d5, relatedListFont=font-1, hideAuthors=true, tertiaryTextColor=#6c6c6c, buttonHoverTextColor=#ffffff, tableFont=font-1, count=9743, carouselAutoPlay=false, promoTitleFont=font-2, ctaButtonText=[], primaryTextColor=#2a2a2a, buttonTextColor=#ffffff, linkTextColor=#1a1a1a, hideTitles=false, footerLinkColor=#ffffff, carouselSpeed=null, buttonHoverBgColor=#a91d23, rteHeadingFont=font-1, secondaryColor=#656565, hideCategories=true, _template=/page/list/includes/PageList-header.hbs, font3=Arial, font4=Source-serif-4, ctaUrl=null, hideImage=false, footerLinkHoverColor=#d3242c, hideAudioPlayback=false, description=[], showSecondItemMedia=false, listColumns234=null, footerTextColor=#ffffff, titleUrl=https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox, headerSecondaryBgColor=#000000, primaryTextColorInverse=#ffffff, titleColor=null, ampLink=null, listHeaderPosition=null, hideDescriptions=false, showActionBar=true, linkHoverColor=#d3242c, buttonBgColor=#d3242c, ctaTarget=null, suppressPagination=false, promoButtonText=null, backgroundColor=null, headerSecondaryTextColor=#ffffff, pageCount=2436, listTitleFont=font-2, headlineFont=font-1, promoDescriptionFont=font-3, _styledTemplate=/page/list/PageListL.hbs, primaryColor=#d3242c, anchorId=list-4a0005, slimFooter=false, hideHeadline=false, hideDates=true, items=[{timestamp=1773096136000, title=White Sox assistant pitching coach Bobby Hearn has unique view of former college teammate Shane Smith, type=Image, authors=[{authorPageUrl=https://chicago.suntimes.com/barry-m-bloom, ampLink=null, _styledTemplate=null, jobTitle=[], _template=/author/byline/AuthorByline.hbs, bio=[], name=[{items=[Barry M. 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The big brass announced Sunday that Shane Smith will be the Opening Day starter March 26 in Milwaukee.]}], title=White Sox name Shane Smith their Opening Day starter, target=null, primaryMediaType=null, publishDate=March 08, 2026 05:14 PM, wordCount=630, anchorId=promo-cc0002, ampLink=null, category=[{items=[White Sox]}], audio=[], authors=[{authorPageUrl=https://chicago.suntimes.com/barry-m-bloom, ampLink=null, _styledTemplate=null, jobTitle=[], name=[{items=[Barry M. 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Bloom]}], _template=/author/byline/AuthorByline.hbs, bio=[], media=[]}], url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/03/07/white-sox-grant-taylor-will-venable-drew-thorpe-tanner-mcdougal-noah-schultz, target=null, primaryMediaType=null, anchorId=promo-cc0003, media=[{ampLink=null, _styledTemplate=null, _template=/image/Image.hbs, image={src=https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/3b/8e/b7c775ff4eda9e976916f4141314/st26-cws-taylor-04-f23.jpg, width=4200, height=2800}, alt=ST26-CWS-taylor-04-f23.jpg, narrowImage={src=https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/3b/8e/b7c775ff4eda9e976916f4141314/st26-cws-taylor-04-f23.jpg, width=4200, height=2800}}], ampLink=null, category=[{items=[White Sox]}], description=[{items=[Taylor is one of the Sox’ back-end relievers, but he also opened a few games last year. Both are roles Taylor said he’s comfortable with.]}], timestamp=1772931532000, audio=[], audioDuration=null, _template=/page/promo/PagePromo.hbs}], headerBorderColor=#e9e9e9, ratingCardFont=font-1, titleTarget=null, tableCaptionColor=#626262, pullQuoteIcon=[{image=null, narrowImage=null, _template=/image/Image.hbs, alt=null}], mobileCarousel=false, tableEvenRowsBgColor=#f9f8f3, containerTitleFont=font-2, listBorderColor=#dfdfdf, defaultArticleLeadStyle=standard, title=Latest on the White sox, _parentFiles=[/page/list/includes/PageList-header.hbs]}\">Latest on the White sox</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class=\"PageListL-items\" data-with-borders> <div class=\"PageListL-items-item\"> <div class=\"PagePromoB\"> <div class=\"PagePromoB-content\"> <div class=\"PagePromo-title\"> <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/03/09/sox-assistant-pitching-coach-bobby-hearn-has-known-shane-smith-since-their-time-together-at-wake-forest\" >White Sox assistant pitching coach Bobby Hearn has unique view of former college teammate Shane Smith</a> </div> <div class=\"PagePromo-description\">And Hearn says the team has assembled “a ton of talent” among the pitching staff.</div> <div class=\"PagePromo-byline\"><div class=\"PagePromo-date\"> <bsp-timestamp data-timestamp=1773096136000 data-promo=\"true\"> <template data-date-tpl>[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]</template> <span data-date> </span> </bsp-timestamp><span class=\"dot\"></span></div> <div class=\"PagePromo-author\"> <span>By </span><strong><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/barry-m-bloom\" >Barry M. 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When the clubhouse opened in the hours before the game, however, Jordan Hicks was listed as the starter, with Murphy coming on in relief.</div> <div class=\"PagePromo-byline\"><div class=\"PagePromo-date\"> <bsp-timestamp data-timestamp=1773014034000 data-promo=\"true\"> <template data-date-tpl>[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]</template> <span data-date> </span> </bsp-timestamp><span class=\"dot\"></span></div> <div class=\"PagePromo-author\"> <span>By </span><strong><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/barry-m-bloom\" >Barry M. 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The big brass announced Sunday that Shane Smith will be the Opening Day starter March 26 in Milwaukee.</div> <div class=\"PagePromo-byline\"><div class=\"PagePromo-date\"> <bsp-timestamp data-timestamp=1773008045000 data-promo=\"true\"> <template data-date-tpl>[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]</template> <span data-date> </span> </bsp-timestamp><span class=\"dot\"></span></div> <div class=\"PagePromo-author\"> <span>By </span><strong><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/barry-m-bloom\" >Barry M. 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Both are roles Taylor said he’s comfortable with.</div> <div class=\"PagePromo-byline\"><div class=\"PagePromo-date\"> <bsp-timestamp data-timestamp=1772931532000 data-promo=\"true\"> <template data-date-tpl>[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]</template> <span data-date> </span> </bsp-timestamp><span class=\"dot\"></span></div> <div class=\"PagePromo-author\"> <span>By </span><strong><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/barry-m-bloom\" >Barry M. Bloom </a></strong> </div> <div class=\"PagePromo-readingTime\"> <span class=\"dot-divider\"></span> <svg class=\"PagePromo-readingTime-icon\"> <use xlink:href=\"#icon-clock-reading\"></use> </svg> <span class=\"PagePromo-readingTime-text\"> <bsp-time-to-read data-article-word-count=\"613\"></bsp-time-to-read> read </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div><p></p>",
  "title": "White Sox assistant pitching coach Bobby Hearn has unique view of former college teammate Shane Smith",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-09T23:23:10.119Z"
}