The Chicago White Sox have a very nice future ahead of them for a whole new starting rotation and it could come as soon as 2025.
When the Chicago White Sox set out this winter, they had one goal in mind and that was to trade their highest assets which was their Ace left-hander Garrett Crochet. The Chicago White Sox finally completed that blockbuster deal during the Winter Meetings in which Crochet was dealt over to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for a package of prospects back. Since then, the Chicago White Sox have been rather quiet making mid-level moves for minor league players like Andre Lipcius and making another trade with the Boston Red Sox for reliever Cam Booser. However, with Spring Training now getting closer, it may be time to think of some prospects we could see make an impact in 2025.
The Void Garrett Crochet Left
The departure of Garrett Crochet leaves the Chicago White Sox without a player on their Major League roster to really build around, and as well as not having an Ace to anchor the starting rotation. Crochet departure leaves the White Sox needing to find someone to fill the void of having a 3.58 era, making 32 starts, going 146 IP, and having 33 BB, 209 K’s, and a 1.068 WHIP.
The options the Chicago White Sox have for their starting rotation in 2025 may seem grim, but there are some signs for optimism. According to FanGraphs they project the Chicago White Sox rotation to be 1. Jonathan Cannon 2. Davis Martin 3. Sean Burke 4. Bryse Wilson and 5. Drew Thrope. This rotation would be considered one of the youngest in all of Major League Baseball with their average age of their starters being 25.7. These aren’t the only names that fans should be paying attention to when watching the rotation in 2025, top prospects Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith could be debuting at some point this season which would bring new life into the Chicago White Sox.
Noah Schultz
Schultz who is the White Sox #1 overall prospect and MLBs #16 overall prospect is slated to debuted at some point in 2025 according to MLB.com. Schultz who was drafted in the 1st round of the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft from Oswego East High School. Since being drafted Schultz has quickly climbed the minor league ladder ascending all the way to the Double-A level in 2024. During the 2024 season Schultz split time between High-A ball and Double-A in which he fared far better when facing competition in Double-A than he did in High-A ball and I’m being nice.
While at High-A ball Schultz went 0-1 with a 3.95 ERA, in 7 starts (27.1 innings) and collecting 21 strikeouts which was good for a 13.8 strikeout per 9 rate. Naturally when a prospect is advanced through the minors to the next highest level, some tend to struggle while they try to find the needed adjustment, this wasn’t the case for Noah Schultz. Upon stepping into Double-A Schultz showed that he was more than capable of stepping up to the challenge. In 16 starts at the Double-A level Schultz went 0-3 with a 1.48 ERA in 61 innings striking out 73 for a strikeout per 9 rate of 10.8.
Noah Schultz figures to have top of the rotation and Ace like stuff which the Chicago White Sox need now that Crochet is gone. Standing six-foot-nine Schultz is a dominating presence when on the mound. Having electric stuff which MLB grades both his fastball and slider as his best pitches and as being elite. On a scale of 20-80 with 80 being elite for both positional players and pitchers his fastball rates at a 60/80 and his slider rating a 70/80. According to MLB.com they say:
“Chicago is helping him add a sinking two-seam version as well. He’s in the nascent stages of developing his changeup, a fading mid-80s offering that shows signs of becoming average.”
Schultz figures to get some appearances during Spring Training to get some eyeballs on him and get him up against some top big-league hitters, but he should figure to start the year in Triple-A. I would say if Schultz replicated exactly what he did during his stint at Double-A last year for the first month at Triple-A next season, then he will for sure be called up to the Major Leagues before May begins.
Hagen Smith
Hagen Smith is another southpaw that Chicago White Sox fans should be interested to see come and pitch for the club in 2025. Drafted in the 1st round fifth overall in this year’s amateur draft from the University of Arkansas Smith is currently the Chicago White Sox #3 prospect and MLBs #30 overall prospect. Being drafted just this year Smith saw sometime down at High-A Winston-Salem where he logged three starts where he went 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA, with seven strikeouts in 7.2 innings. Smith was predicted by MLB.com Jim Callis that Hagen Smith as well as Noah Schultz will debut at some point this season.
For 2025 MLB.com has Smith making his debut in 2025 just like his teammate and fellow prospect Noah Schultz. However, Smith may take just a little longer, being that he may need just a little more time down on the farm to develop. Being that he was drafted out of college Smith does have a leg up having a little more seasoning than most with the college season becoming more and more used as a secondary development option for high level prospects. We saw this with the likes of both Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews who both were drafted in 2023 and quickly made their way to the Major Leagues not long after being drafted.
Smith according to MLB.com already has two elite pitches just like his fellow prospect Noah Schultz. Both his fastball and slider on a scale of 20-80 both graded out at 65/80, with a splitter grading at a 50/80 which if he can develop it could be a massive weapon for him. I think the plan for Smith is similar to that of Noah Schultz, I think Smith will most likely start the season at Double-A where he should get a couple of starts and if he shows he can dominate in those starts, than he will quickly move up to Triple-A and if he continues to dominate there will eventually make his way onto the Chicago White Sox roster.
The Chicago White Sox will need some rotational help if not this season, then for sure moving forward. Bryse Wilson is currently on a one-year deal and is looking to have a breakout season with the hopes of finding a long-term deal somewhere. Then there’s question marks on what Jonathan Cannon and Drew Thorpe can be with Davis Martin figuring to be a solid depth piece, there’s a possibility there will be three openings in the rotation after this year and barring injury possibly sooner. Both Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz figure to be the first two options to fill those opens once they become available and hopefully fan can see them both at some point this season.
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