The White Sox Have the Best Pitching Prospect Duo in Baseball

If the Chicago White Sox are going to contend for a World Series in the next decade, a pair of 21-year-old left-handers will be a key part of that.

Noah Schultz has ascended to the status of the top left-handed pitching prospect in baseball, a top 20 prospect in all of baseball. Hagen Smith was drafted fifth overall by the White Sox last July and debuted in High-A last season as one of the most “MLB-ready” players in the draft class.

The White Sox are becoming known for developing lefties with powerful stuff and now quite possibly have the two best left-handed pitching prospects in baseball. Both finished 2024 as top 40 prospects on Just Baseball’s Top 100 Prospects List.

With that level of talent comes necessary precautions, though, as Chicago was extremely careful with Schultz last season, limiting him to four innings per start after an injury-riddled 2023 season. Smith threw 91.2 game innings last season between the collegiate level at Arkansas and his few outings in High-A.

The goal is to get both over 100 innings this season, developing their stuff along the way. Regardless of whether they debut late this season in Chicago, that would set them up to become the focal point of the White Sox rotation in 2026 and beyond.

For now, the duo is impressing early in spring training as they make appearances in the same games. These two pitching back-to-back is not only a nightmare for hitters, but gives White Sox fans a glimpse into the future.

Last week, both threw a scoreless inning while allowing one hit each. Smith struck out a trio, including Padres top prospects Leo De Vries and Ethan Salas.

Hagen Smith : 1IP 3K's. pic.twitter.com/tfCRx5Xpr5
— FutureSox (@FutureSox) February 26, 2025

This Wednesday, both got the chance to throw two innings apiece against the Brewers in the home game of a split squad day.

Schultz started things off for the duo, following starter Martín Perez as he took the ball for the fourth and fifth innings. Despite a bit of shaky command, he worked around three walks without allowing a hit to get through two clean innings.

Typically this way, Schultz remained composed after the game, unconcerned with the outing. He explained that he was drifting open to his glove side, a common cause of missing pitches high and to the arm side, but corrected it as much as possible between his two innings.

With command drifting a bit today, Noah Schultz said that he was flying open a bit on his glove side but corrected that between innings and was happy with how everything turned out.

Schultz was more in the 94 mph range today after sitting around 96-97 last week. He noted that he…
— Elijah Evans (@ElijahEv8) March 5, 2025

Schultz was definitely a noticeable tick down in velocity as well but cited his energy in the prior outing, it being his first-ever MLB-level game, as the reason.

With a devastating sinker and slider combination delivered with elite extension, Schultz has been working a cutter into his game plan more often. He threw it at times last season but has deployed it this spring frequently.

“It feels good. I was pretty confident with it last year, was just limited with how much I could throw it, so it’s nice to be able to throw it more,” said Schultz.

His primary pair of offerings are elite, which has reduced the need for more at the lower levels of the minor leagues. However, the increased usage of the cutter, along with his changeup, will be important at the highest level.

At around 90 mph, the cutter bridges the gap between his mid-90s fastball and mid-80s slider.

Schultz is taking in as much as he can during big league camp as he works towards his big league debut this season or next. He has proven capable of handling Double-A hitters but will likely start there once again to build his innings.

Upon Schultz’s departure after the fifth inning, Hagen Smith entered for the second time this spring. He also dealt with some wavering command but kept the Brewers off the board as well.

Smith walked a pair and struck out one while allowing no hits in his two frames. He was frustrated with his command but happy to get the right results.

“Trying to work through some struggles. It’s gonna happen during the year no matter where I’m at, so to be able to do that was really good,” said Smith.

Similarly to Schultz, Smith is known for his fastball and slider combo that he used to terrorize SEC hitters at Arkansas. He’s deepening his arsenal like most pitchers in the organization though, knowing that he’ll need more options to get elite hitters out.

Hagen Smith made his spring debut last week for the White Sox. An added curveball is an emphasis for him in his first big full pro season.

"Curveball is the big thing I added this offseason. I threw it once, but there wasn't really a situation I needed to throw," said Smith.
— Elijah Evans (@ElijahEv8) March 3, 2025

The addition of a curveball alongside his splitter, which he has thrown minimally in the past, should elevate his already strong primary two offerings.

In Wednesday’s outing, Smith mixed in one curveball and one splitter but admitted that it’s not an easy thing to mix those ones in when he’s trying to work through being a tad off. Only having a pair of innings to work further reduces the ability to mix in stuff.

Upon being drafted last July, Smith made three starts in High-A Winston-Salem but was stopped there due to how much he had already thrown at Arkansas last spring. Despite the lack of experience, his stuff is ready for the next step.