The Chicago White Sox have so many talented young prospects in their farm system that all will likely be up at some point this season.
A couple of those prospects that White Sox fans could get a look at this season are top prospects Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith who both have received invites to spring training for this season.
General Manager Chris Getz was recently interviewed on 670 The Score and asked about Schultz and Smith’s progress and the White Sox’s outlook for this season.
Chris Getz talks about his Chicago White Sox and the outlook for this season
Recently White Sox General Manager Chris Getz was interviewed on 670 The Score and said that he felt that the White Sox are close to being good shortly and it will be carried by their two young left-handers Smith and Schultz.
“I don’t think we’re that far off on watching Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith at the front of the rotation for the White Sox. I think it’s very shortly.”
The future is near, White Sox fans. pic.twitter.com/mhYAP0eHL0
— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) January 24, 2025
After coming off a historically awful season in which the White Sox set the all-time loss record, it is refreshing to hear and exciting to see that the White Sox will indeed give their young guys room to grow.
Getz has done well this offseason given the circumstances surrounding the rebuild and the budget constraints that have affected some free agent signings. Getz was able to pull off the Garrett Crochet trade that brought back a great haul of prospects that will be key for the White Sox in this hopefully short rebuild.
Getz has also added to the fringes of the roster by signing low-risk but high-reward guys such as Bryse Wilson to have a bounce-back first half so the White Sox can flip them at next year’s deadline. The White Sox also added decent veterans in Austin Slater, Mike Tauchman, and Josh Rojas to one-year deals to help mentor the young guys a little bit but also provide decent levels of production to flip at the deadline.
Could Schultz and Smith make the roster in 2025?
Schultz and Smith have as good of a chance as any to possibly make the White Sox Opening Day roster given the quotes Getz gave. With also getting invites to spring training the writing on the tea leaves is slowly becoming visible that Schultz and Smith could be called up very soon.
Both were recently named as the top two left-handed pitching prospects in all of baseball as well as making the top 100 prospects list with Schultz ranking at No. 16 and Smith at No. 34. Schultz was exceptional last season accumulating a record of 1-6 with a dazzling 2.03 ERA, with 153 strikeouts in 115.1 innings pitched. That is good enough for a strikeout per nine of 11.9. While Smith in his brief three games started at High-A Winston-Salem had a 0-1 record with a 3.52 ERA, with seven strikeouts in 7.2 innings.
1. Noah Schultz: 21, SP (A+/AA)
Schultz is one of the best pitching prospects out there. In 2024, he pitched 88.1 innings to a 2.24 ERA, 32.1% K%, 6.7% BB%, 0.98 WHIP and kept opponents to a .196 BAA. Solid fastball, nasty slider. Sinker/change are works in progress. pic.twitter.com/FzJ9cqo2Yk
— LouisAnalysis (@LouisAnalysis) January 24, 2025
Both are expected to be top of the rotation arms with Schultz edging Smith out just by a hair with potentially being the White Sox’s next Ace. Schultz is noticeable as soon as he walks into a room with his imposing 6-9 220lbs frame he has drawn comparisons to Randy Johnson for not only his height but for having one of the better sliders with MLB grading it as a plus-plus pitch at 70/80.
Schultz and Smith will dominate once called up
It’s great whenever an organization has at least one pitching prospect that will be a top-of-the-rotation piece and be someone they can build around, but it’s rare to have two of them in your system.
Both have the possibility to show out in spring training and force the White Sox’s hand and have them place them on their roster to just throw caution to the wind and see what happens. This wouldn’t be unprecedented with the White Sox doing the same thing recently with Garrett Crochet.
This is an exciting time to be a White Sox fan and with Getz being so optimistic then this season could possibly have some glimmers of hope.
The White Sox have the top 2 LHP Prospects in 2025, including 2024 No. 5 overall pick Hagen Smith. 😤
(🎥: @FloCollegeBSB) pic.twitter.com/JMrBc4qGlI
— MLB (@MLB) January 23, 2025
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