CHICAGO -- There once were three young right-handed pitchers who practiced their high school craft in the same general Massachusetts geographic area, graduating with the hopes of one day playing Major League Baseball.
Sean Burke, who prepped at St. John¡¯s High School in Shrewsbury, went on to the University of Maryland. Shane Smith, who attended The Governor¡¯s Academy in Byfield, moved on to Wake Forest. Mike Vasil, who was at Boston College Prep in Dorchester, studied at the University of Virginia.
Now, the trio is working for the White Sox, in the same city, on the same staff. It¡¯s a little Boston-baked talent, Boston-baked attitude brought to Chicago.
Smith and Vasil stood on the third-base line at Rate Field on Thursday prior to the South Siders¡¯ 8-1 victory over the Angels, as part of the pregame introduction for both teams and as part of their first appearance on an Opening Day roster. Their home clubhouse lockers are even located next to each other. Burke, whose locker is three or four to the right of Smith, earned the victory during his first career Opening Day start.
¡°Yeah, it's cool,¡± said Burke after throwing six scoreless innings. ¡°It's three kids who all grew up within 35-45 minutes of each other all playing at the highest level on the same team. All graduated high school in 2018."
¡°I think it¡¯s pretty rare that you have three Massachusetts guys, all the same high school class, and now we are all together at the highest level of baseball,¡± Vasil said. ¡°It¡¯s pretty unique.¡±
Vasil was the last one to join the White Sox pitching staff, claimed off waivers from the Rays on March 23. He originally was selected by the Phillies with the 14th pick of the 2024 Rule 5 Draft and immediately traded to Tampa Bay.
In a strange coincidence, Smith was the No. 1 pick by the White Sox in this same Rule 5 class. And in an even stranger coincidence, Vasil and Smith work out together during the offseason.
¡°What¡¯s awesome about Shane, I see how hard he works every day,¡± Vasil said. ¡°I get to see what he does in the gym every day. He pushes me a lot to work hard. So, the first thing I saw of like updates was him striking out [Shohei] Ohtani. I was like, ¡®What is going on out there?¡¯
¡°I started to check in, and I was more really happy for him. My next text to him was, ¡®I¡¯ll see you in Chicago.¡¯ He was very excited as well. He¡¯s an incredibly hard worker and that¡¯s just who he is.¡±
Those people who solely watched Smith¡¯s first Cactus League inning against Texas on Feb. 24 at Camelback Ranch would be stunned to see his name as Tuesday¡¯s probable starter for the White Sox against Minnesota at Rate Field. During that very first inning, Smith walked three and gave up an Adolis Garc¨ªa single before he was replaced mid-frame.
It took Smith exactly one inning to get back on track, as he reentered in the second and tossed a perfect frame. Smith then finished the spring with 11 strikeouts and a 3.38 ERA over 10 2/3 innings overall. Ohtani was one of those strikeouts, actually two of those strikeouts, as were Freddie Freeman and Will Smith over three scoreless innings against the Dodgers on March 8. That quick comeback in the Texas outing truly showed Smith how he changed as a competitor.
¡°If I did this a year ago, I probably would have had a much different outlook especially moving forward after that outing. Yeah, I didn¡¯t beat myself up over it,¡± Smith said. ¡°I kind of took what I could from it, flushed it and learned from it. It was a whole lot of different things.
¡°Trying to do too much never really works out for anybody. I tried to show everything I have in one pitch every single time. It¡¯s just not how it works.¡±
Burke and Vasil have known each other since their junior year in high school, facing off as opposing hitters. The results went about as expected.
¡°We both struck each other out,¡± Vasil said. ¡°No hits there.¡±
¡°Our pitching side of those battles definitely won each time,¡± Burke said. ¡°At that age, we were both better pitchers than hitters.¡±
Nothing has changed in that area. Now, the 25-year-old Massachusetts natives are teammates in Chicago, along with the 24-year-old Smith, pushing each other toward individual and team success.
¡°Not even us three,¡± Burke said. ¡°We all try to push each other. It's like me, Davis [Martin], [Jonathan] Cannon, everyone is trying to elevate each other's games.¡±