Chicago White Sox Prospect Named Southern League Pitcher Of The Week

There's something about pitchers named Shane in the Chicago White Sox organization this season.

In the major leagues, rookie right-hander Shane Smith is making a push for the All-Star game with a 2.37 ERA across his first 13 starts. Down in Double-A, 6-foot-5 left-hander Shane Murphy was named Southern League Pitcher of the Week on Monday.

Across his last two starts for the Birmingham Barons, Murphy threw 13 scoreless innings with four hits, one walk and 10 strikeouts against the Montgomery Biscuits. That marked his fewest amount of earned runs in a two-game stretch this season, though he hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any appearance.

Murphy was a 14th round pick by the White Sox in 2022 out of Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Arizona. He began the 2025 season with the Single-A Winston-Salem Dash, but he was promoted to Double-A after three outings with four earned runs across 10 innings.

Since joining the Barons, Murphy has had the best stretch of his professional career. Making seven starts and two relief appearances, he has a 1.29 ERA and an 0.77 WHIP with 42 strikeouts and five walks across 49 innings.

Murphy is somewhat of an under-the-radar prospect, as he's not ranked among the White Sox top-30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline. But now into mid-June, he's been one of the organization's top pitchers.