Minor League Baseball

Chicago White Sox to Ease Minor League Workload of Top Pitching Prospects, For Now

Double-A Birmingham pitchers Hagen Smith, Grant Taylor will have their innings managed.

Jami Leabow

Chicago White Sox pitcher Hagen Smith (82) poses for a photo on media day at the team’s spring training facility in Glendale, Ariz., on Feb. 20, 2025.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Hagen Smith (82) poses for a photo on media day at the team’s spring training facility in Glendale, Ariz., on Feb. 20, 2025. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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The Chicago White Sox have decided to be cautious with left-handed pitching prospect Hagen Smith, and he’ll miss his next scheduled start for Double-A Birmingham.

MLB.com reporter Scott Merkin said this on Tuesday:

Hagen Smith's velocity was fluctuating his last outing, showing some signs of fatigue. As a precaution his outing was shortened and the White Sox are skipping a start to help navigate his first full season. Medically he's in a good spot-- proactive in managing his workload.

The medical report is good news for the White Sox, who are counting on the 1-2 punch of Smith and Noah Schultz to play key roles down the road in the starting rotation on the South Side.

Entering play Tuesday, Smith had made seven starts and has a 2-0 record with a 2.10 ERA. He has thrown 25 2/3 innings with 42 strikeouts but also 20 walks for a 2.10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has allowed 11 hits, just one of them a home run.

The White Sox selected the 6-foot-3 Smith with the No. 5 overall pick of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Arkansas. MLB Pipeline has him ranked as the No. 30 prospect in the game, No. 3 for the White Sox and No. 2 among left-handed pitchers.

Schultz, the top White Sox prospect, is No. 1 on the list of left-handed prospects.

Smith, 21, never pitched more than 84 innings in a season in college, throwing 77.1 and 71.2 before topping out as a senior. That season, he was 9-2 with a 2.04 ERA in 16 starts.

Merkin also reported that the White Sox plan to move right-hander Grant Taylor to the bullpen, at least for now. The move, he said, is being made to balance his workload and also to give him some bullpen experience.

Taylor, 22, is the No. 7 prospect in the White Sox system, according to MLB Pipeline. Selected in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft, the LSU product had Tommy John surgery while in college.

This season, he is 0-1 with a 1.56 ERA in six starts. In 17.1 innings, he has struck out 19 batters and walked 10.

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Jami Leabow
JAMI LEABOW

Jami Leabow is the managing editor of Minor League Baseball on SI. Her love for the game began when her parents bought season tickets to the then-California Angels.

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