The Chicago White Sox have two of baseball’s most promising pitching prospects. Noah Schultz, a 22-year-old left-hander who was drafted twenty sixth general in 2022 out of an Oswego, Illinois highschool is presently no. 22 on The Board with a 55 FV. Hagen Smith, himself a 22-year-old southpaw, was drafted fifth general in 2024 out of the College of Arkansas and isn’t any. 81 with a 50 FV. Every possesses an influence arm, and each have loads to show within the forthcoming season — albeit for various causes. Schultz was restricted to 73 innings this 12 months as a consequence of damage, whereas Smith handled command points and lacks a strong third pitch.
I requested White Sox govt vice chairman/common supervisor Chris Getz concerning the younger pitchers throughout final week’s GM Conferences in Las Vegas.
“For Noah, it was an inconsistent 12 months,” Getz stated of the 6-foot-10 Schultz, who struggled to the tune of a 4.68 ERA between Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte. “A lot of that was associated to his knee — he had patellar tendonitis — and he wanted be to close down. He’s doing [physical therapy] and strengthening proper now. I anticipate that after the knee is totally healed, as soon as it’s wholesome and fully sturdy, we’re going to get the model of Noah that made him a high prospect in our sport.
“In regard to his proximity to the massive leagues, I believe numerous that’s going to [depend on] his knee,” continued Getz. “If he’s wholesome and able to go, I’m very assured that he’s going to have the ability to get main league hitters out.”
The arsenal Schultz employs is 4 pitches deep — fastball, slider, cutter, changeup — with the second of these choices profiling as his finest weapon. Delivered from a low arm slot (as are his different pitches), Schultz’s slider has been assigned a 70 on scouting scale by our lead prospect analyst, Eric Longenhagen. In line with Getz, the White Sox like the place he’s at when it comes to his repertoire — at the very least in the intervening time.
“We’ve recognized the pitch combine that’s finest for him,” Getz informed me. “After all, that might evolve primarily based on the place the sport is, hitters, the place his physique continues to go. These are all components. In regard to his command and the facility that he has, these are issues he wasn’t in a position to totally make the most of final 12 months. We anticipate them coming again.”
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For Smith, command isn’t one thing to be rediscovered a lot as it’s a work in progress. When the teen not too long ago pitched within the Arizona Fall League, it was his primary space of focus, together with changeup improvement. Addressing the previous, Longenhagen shared the next after I wrote about the erstwhile Razorback earlier this month: “Smith’s command within the AFL hasn’t been nice, however it has been higher than it was through the common season when he was concerningly wild.”
“There are areas in his supply that should be extra constant,” agreed Getz. “He’s proven a capability to lock that in higher within the Fall League, which has helped his command. It appears like Hagen has additionally discovered a changeup grip to the place he’s in a position to find an efficient pitch. A 3rd pitch is necessary to him, particularly towards right-handed hitters. His fastball/slider mixture is fairly deadly, so including a high quality changeup is barely going to assist.
“He racks up numerous strikeouts,” continued Getz, a reference to Smith’s 33.9% strikeout price this season. “There are going to be alternatives for him to assault for contact occasionally, which can assist him restrict pitch counts and navigate deeper into video games, however he had some stretches towards the top of the Double-A season and within the Fall League the place you noticed some actual dominance. That was clearly encouraging to see. Now it’s a simply matter of him having a very productive offseason and being able to go come spring coaching. We’ll see the place it goes from there.”
The place Chicago’s South Facet crew goes when it comes to pitching success will in fact depend upon extra than simply what Schultz and Smith deliver to the desk. With that in thoughts, I requested Getz if there are every other hurlers within the organizational pipeline that folks ought to find out about. He named three.
“Tanner McDougal is a man who had a very good 12 months and put himself on the radar,” replied Getz, citing the 22-year-old right-hander who isn’t any. 6 in our White Sox prospect rankings. “He was in Double-A this season. Christian Oppor (no. 9) is one other arm value being attentive to. He’s a lefty who pitched in Excessive-A. Blake Larson (no. 29) hasn’t pitched for us but — he had Tommy John surgical procedure after we drafted him — however he’s acquired an opportunity to be actually particular. We anticipate him having a productive, enjoyable, first lively season.”