White Sox No. 3 Prospect Strikes Out Eight For Double-A Birmingham Barons

White Sox prospect Hagen Smith continued his strong start to the 2025 season Wednesday with the Birmingham Barons.

The 6-foot-3 left-hander held the Rocket City Trash Pandas scoreless through four innings, allowing just one hit while striking out eight batters. Control was a bit of an issue with four walks, but he maneuvered around traffic well to avoid damage.

Smith's first two strikeouts came on breaking balls low and away, and en elevated fastball in the second inning led to a double play with a strikeout and a runner caught stealing at second. Locating his fastball high and outside worked well throughout the day as it contrasted to his off-speed pitches.

Hagen Smith, the @WhiteSox 2024 first-round pick and MLB's No. 2-ranked LHP prospect, had a dominant outing for the @BhamBarons:

4 IP
1 H
0 R
4 BB
8 K pic.twitter.com/kdBBHXL7Pm
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 23, 2025

Through four starts in Double-A this season, Smith has a 2.63 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP through 13.2 innings, along 10 walks and a whopping 25 strikeouts. He's ranked No. 3 among White Sox prospects, No. 31 overall and No. 8 among all pitching prospects.

Smith's strikeout rate was among the main reasons the White Sox drafted him with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Arkansas. Across 84 innings with the Razorbacks in 2024, Smith struck out 161 batters and posted a 2.04 ERA.

Still just 21 years old and playing in Double-A, Smith may still be a year or two away from breaking into the big leagues, as MLB.com estimates he debuts during the 2026 season.

Below is part of Smith's scouting report, per MLB.com.

"Both Smith's fastball and slider are well-above-average pitches. His four-seamer works at 94-97 mph and reaches 100 mph, playing even better than its impressive velocity because his funky delivery and low release height create plenty of deception and carry. His slider is his best offering, an 83-87 mph beast with horizontal and vertical action that overwhelms lefties and also works against righties."

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