April 14th: The White Sox officially selected Schultz today, per a team announcement. Yesterday’s Lenyn Sosa trade opened a roster spot. The Sox also reinstated outfielder Everson Pereira from the injured list and placed Cannon on the 15-day IL with right hip inflammation.
April 11th: White Sox top pitching prospect Noah Schultz is heading to the big leagues. The left-hander is expected to make his big-league debut on Tuesday against the Rays. Elijah Evans of Just Baseball first reported Schultz’s promotion.
Chicago has a gap in the rotation with Opening Day starter Shane Smith sent down on Wednesday. Jonathan Cannon is expected to join the club on Sunday. The righty will be an option to work behind opener Grant Taylor against the Royals, but it appears he might not be taking over the No. 5 starter gig.
Schultz is off to a strong start at Triple-A. He fired four hitless innings in his first outing of the campaign. He followed that up by allowing one earned run over five frames in consecutive starts. Schultz has a massive 40.4% strikeout rate through 14 minor league innings. He’s permitted just six base runners.
MLB Pipeline ranks Schultz behind only outfielder Braden Montgomery in Chicago’s farm system. FanGraphs’ James Fegan also had the lefty in the No. 2 spot over the winter, but with third baseman Caleb Bonemer in the top spot. The White Sox spent a first-round pick on Schultz in 2022. He’s moved quickly through the minors, reaching Triple-A before his 21st birthday.
Schultz breezed through the lower levels of the minors. He posted a 1.33 ERA with a 36.5% in 27 innings at Single-A in 2023. The massive 6’10”, 240-pound lefty pushed his workload to 88 1/3 frames the following year. He maintained a 2.24 ERA and punched out hitters at a 32.1% clip between High-A and Double-A.
The 2025 campaign was a bit of a roadblock for multiple reasons. Schultz still prevented runs at a decent rate at Double-A, but his strikeout rate fell to 23.2%, and his walk rate ballooned to 14.4%. He was blasted for 17 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings after getting moved up to Triple-A. Schultz issued free passes at a concerning 11.7% rate with Charlotte. Knee issues also limited him in the second half, though he was cleared of any concern heading into 2026.
Outside of Smith’s disastrous three starts, Chicago’s rotation has pitched reasonably well to begin the year. The unit has combined for a 3.99 ERA, which ranks 14th in the league. Davis Martin, Erick Fedde, Anthony Kay, and Sean Burke all have sub-4.00 ERAs so far. Taylor as an opener has worked swimmingly, with the righty tossing three scoreless frames with just one hit allowed across a trio of “starts.” The White Sox skewed righty-heavy last season, outside of a Martin Perez cameo, but Schultz will give them two southpaws in the mix (along with Kay).
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
6’10?!
6’11 actually. Baseball reference has that recorded wrong.
Maybe 6’10” with no shoes and wet hair.
MLB also has him at 6’10”
I think there were more accurate measurements taken this year for ABS that are making players shorter than last year. No more typical male add an inch or two to the real height.
Sox choosing to promote a big time prospect before the prospect deadline is something a bit new.
What do you mean “prospect deadline?” They should be past the extra year of service by Tuesday
It’s for prospect promotion incentive. If he wins awards chisox get extra draft picks
Nope. He spent too much time in the minors for that to happen. It is not possible for him to make it to 172 days in the majors this year.
Past that now
Yes!!
Let’s go? Maybe they actually care about winning? Division as strong but hyped to see the kid pitch.
They cant score though. Will have no decisions and tough luck losses.
I like this move a lot. If he cracks top 3 in ROY do the Sox get an extra draft pick?
Nope, had to be on the opening day roster. But when he places in top 3 for Cy within two years, they will!
I think he gets the ball tomorrow after Taylor opens the game. Caglionone is going to take him deep.
I dont think he will be up for the remainder of the season. He is going to be a good pitcher sooner than later but I watched highlights of his start the other day, he didnt look all that great to me. I think he is going to get shelled.
Will start on Tuesday btw
I’ve watched every inning of his this year and some of the previous two seasons. You will be surprised at his effortless delivery and his command & control. He works the edges with a 97 mph heater that he has commanded to both sides of the plate better than last year, able to steal strikes on all four corners with the ABS. His slider is an out pitch, but unlike Sale he doesn’t rely on it & throws it a little softer. His curve has a vertical drop that makes it seem unhittable, which when he is going well, drops in at the shins for a strike. Once he can drop it at the top of the zone, nobody will have a chance with it starting out way over their heads.
Frankly, Schultz looks way better at his age than Rodon (who dominated in college), especially command and two additional plus pitches. He works with less velocity than expected, but with an easy delivery & extension that’s best in all of baseball, so the time from release to the plate reduces decision time & is absolutely elite. Also, he is way more agile than you can imagine, way ahead of BigUnit at this age.
Strap in folks, this is going to be fun! Hope he has success right out of the gate.
Yeah Schultz has good body control and seems to have mastered the delivery. The slider is a killer and the four seamer has good enough characteristics.
His issue is control/command which he struggled with in the minors. If he can throw strikes, he could be good. Having watched film from this year, I think it is likely.
@Rotofool, I didn’t watch Rodon pitch much before he made it to the bigs and cant compare the two. I like Rodon, he is one of my favorite pitchers, nice and quiet, repeatable delivery.
Schultz has length and locates the fastball but his breaking balls are going to get tanked, I didn’t see that big curve ball you alluded to and he has trouble keeping the slider low in the zone.
Reid Detmers has a great curveball from the LH side.
Hope he does well, but all he has to do to be better than Rodon at his age is be healthy.
No ABS in ’27:
Noah Schultz last start was on Wednesday. He will not pitch on just three days rest. The White Sox are off on Monday and will play at home on Tuesday versus the Rays. The SW suburban Naperville native and Oswego East High School grad will make his MLB debut then, no doubt with plenty with family and friends on hand for that special event.
@rotofool The PPI requirement is 172 days on an active roster during the season, so “players with little or no MLB service time need to break camp with the team or be called up within two weeks of Opening Day.” mlb.com/news/prospect-promotion-incentive-faq
@BBB Thanks for that link to the PPI rules!!
I had misinterpreted the rules in several ways based upon Skenes ROY & CY. He was brought up after the two week mark, so the Pirates didn’t get compensated for either award, although Skenes was awarded full year of service time bc of ROY, defeating the club’s attempt of gaining an additional year of control. I had thought callup within a few weeks but after two preserved the 2nd year MVP/CY eligibility, but it is opening day only for this. No comp picks for either.
My takeaway:
GM Getz learned nothing from Pirates fumbling Skenes, waiting a week too long to callup Schultz. This is incredibly dumb to forgo trying to win a COMP 1st by waiting until the Super 2 date passes in order to gain a year of control, which in the case of Skenes’ ROY, won him a full year anyhow. What if Schultz dominates? Would SOX sabotage Schultz run at ROY, to preserve an extra year since no comp picks is possible? I had just assumed Getz was calling him up in time for the 2nd year award eligibility…guess not.
@rotofool Nahhhhh. The odds of Schultz actually winning ROY are slim. And that’s really the only scenario where waiting to call him up backfires.
@roto: Schultz struggled in minors last year. If anything, it’s somewhat surprising he has been promoted this early despite a few good starts. Patient clubs will test command of the kid, and like most touted SP prospects, some growing pains are expected. Good thing is he arrives in a groove.
@NoABS Detmers had an absolutely amazing curve!!
Schultz’s isn’t like that big bender but rather acts as his “slider” and is often stamped as one by the automated system. However, that is a curve he’s throwing, gripped and thrown like a curve not a slider, which travels in the mid-80’s. He has controlled it low in the zone better this year. However, when he has thrown it high in the zone it has landed for called strikes to both handed batters and looks totally unhittable bc it is traveling from so high.
I wonder if Romo has helped the most, he is so much better behind the plate than Hackenberg last year. What a great waiver claim! I wonder if Romo eventually is promoted to the bigs & Quero sent to AAA to play fulltime when Teel returns. Romo looks to me the best defensively of the three.
Also, i believe Schultz’s change might be key to his success in the bigs bc what little hard contact he’s allowed has been 4-seam FBs to RH hitters. He will see way more RHs in the bigs with platoons more prevalent and will need to locate that or find another out pitch & the change has been hit or miss. Maybe Kay or Bannister can help him make the cutter or 2-seamer more reliable as alternatives to that straight FB.
Doesn’t have to be on the opening day roster. Just accrue 172 days of service time. But he won’t do that.
Nope. Spent too long in the minors this year.
I Noah Schultz, but it’s not this one.
Yesssss. This Red Sox fan is excited to be a White Sox fan! That’s my former student! Go, Noah!
Very happy for both of you.
The prospect rankings are bad. They favor free swinging strikeout machines who struggle at mlb level with low .200 average and a boat load of ks with ok power but no real batting potential. Braden Montgomery and Bohnermer are not better batters that Antonacci and Bergolla Jr.
Schultz has a wipeout slider and fastball. He should give a boost to Southside’s pitching staff
He sounds great but can he pound the ol Budweiser like the legendary Joe Schultz?
Hot take: The sooner he plays in MLB, the sooner he’ll need his inevitable TJ, and the more of his recovery time overlaps with the work stoppage next season. White Sox been playing long game chess this whole time.
TJ for pitchers is a virus that doesn’t stop spreading.
His debut isn’t worth risking your life on the red line getting there
I saw Noah pitch in the minors and thought he’d be in the big leagues quickly as the ChiSox need help. Good luck, young man. You look to have a good future.
Welcome to the Red Sox in 5-10 years Noah Schultz
First round pick CWS
Lefty starter
Sounds very very very familiar
Did not look comfortable out there. If he struggles, maybe Reinsdorf can add him to the Chicago Bulls roster, the Bulls need height.
He is way too tall to be a guard! That’s all the Bulls want!🤣