PHOENIX -- When White Sox manager Will Venable named right-hander Sean Burke to be Chicago’s Opening Day starter against the Angels at Rate Field on March 27, it was a fitting -- but surprising -- move. That’s because Burke is set to become the first Opening Day starter with fewer than 20 career MLB innings to his name since the Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela 44 years ago.

Burke is a microcosm of a rotation that hopes to help the White Sox improve on a record-setting 121-loss campaign in 2024: young (outside of veteran southpaw Martín Pérez), inexperienced and hopeful. Two others who are seeking to lock up rotation spots pitched on Wednesday against the Brewers at American Family Fields of Phoenix -- right-handers Shane Smith and Davis Martin.

Smith started the main game against Milwaukee, tossing four scoreless innings over which he yielded three hits while walking one and striking out two during a 5-4 Sox loss. Just prior to Smith’s start, Martin started in a “B” game on one of the back fields at the complex. He went 3 2/3 innings and struck out five on 73 pitches.

Smith, whom the White Sox selected from the Brewers in last year’s Rule 5 Draft, is looking to not only make Chicago’s rotation, but also make his MLB debut when he gets to the South Side. He said that he’s pleased with how he’s performed this spring and what he’s given Sox brass to think about as Opening Day nears.

“It would mean a whole lot more than I can say right now,” Smith said of making the season-opening roster. “… I think I put my best foot forward this spring, definitely. So, whatever they decide, I can live with that.”

The Sox could certainly live with more of what Smith has given them over his last three Cactus League outings. Since surrendering four runs over 1 2/3 innings in his first appearance of the spring, he’s thrown nine scoreless frames over which he walked one and struck out 10. Five of those strikeouts came in three innings against the vaunted Dodgers’ lineup on March 8, and two of those were against reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani.

The potential is certainly there for Smith to tap into. But the next step -- making the Opening Day rotation -- is a big one. As camp winds down, he will look to put the finishing touches on a Cactus League performance that makes him a strong candidate to do just that.

Martin, on the other hand, is very likely to make the rotation. While he said he was “fighting through” not having his best stuff on the back field Wednesday, he’s in a good place with just over a week to go in Spring Training.

“I didn’t feel great, just mechanics-wise,” Martin said. “… But all in all, with the adjustments we made, I was pretty happy with it. … My goal is to be on the Opening Day roster … a little part of me never felt like you’re a true big leaguer until you make an Opening Day roster.”

Clevinger closer to becoming a closer
Mike Clevinger, who has been a starter over the vast majority of his eight-year Major League career to this point, is moving into a relief role that could make him Chicago’s closer. The veteran right-hander tossed a scoreless inning of relief with two strikeouts on Wednesday, and afterward said that the transition is going well in more ways than one.

Not only is he “ironing out the routine and the throwing in between,” as he said, but he’s also feeling much different this year. That’s because he underwent disc replacement surgery in his neck, which he thinks relieved many problems he had been experiencing even in his throwing arm the past few years.

“This is the first time I’ve been healthy in a long time,” said Clevinger, who has thrown four scoreless innings with no walks and six strikeouts this spring. “I finally have a body back, which has been promising.”

Benintendi and Slater back in the lineup
Outfielders Andrew Benintendi and Austin Slater returned to the lineup on Wednesday, with Benintendi going 0-for-4 and Slater going 0-for-3. Benintendi’s return after suffering a fracture in his right hand was relatively swift -- it had been estimated that he might not be ready for Opening Day. Slater was back after being sidelined by a left oblique strain.