Minor League Baseball

White Sox Top Prospect Shaky In Season Debut With Double-A Birmingham Barons

Left-handed pitcher Noah Schultz, the top prospect in the Chicago White Sox organization, gave up eight hits and four earned runs Friday night with the Double-A Birmingham Barons.
Jack Ankony|
Chicago White Sox pitcher Noah Schultz (76) throws during a spring training game against the San Diego Padres at Camelback Ranch.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Noah Schultz (76) throws during a spring training game against the San Diego Padres at Camelback Ranch. | Allan Henry-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago White Sox

Chicago White Sox prospect Noah Schultz made his highly anticipated season debut Friday night with the Double-A Birmingham Barons.

Schultz is the organization's No. 1 prospect, as well as the No. 16 prospect in baseball, No. 5 pitching prospect and the top-ranked left-handed pitcher, per MLB.com. At 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds, the 21-year old lefty throws from a three-quarters arm slot, can touch 99 miles per hour with his fastball and has a 70-grade slider.

His outing against the Chicago Cubs' affiliate, the Tennessee Smokies, got off to a good start as Schultz retired the first three batters with two strikeouts and just 11 pitches. His first strikeout came on an off-speed pitch in the dirt, and he fanned the next batter with a fastball on the outside corner.

But he gave up four straight singles to begin the second inning, each on pitches that landed in the middle of the zone. By the end of the second inning, Schultz had given up five hits and three earned runs.

After catching too much of the plate with several pitches in the second, Schultz struggled a bit with command in the second. He gave up a leadoff single, then hit and walked the next two batters to load the bases. The Smokies took a 4-0 lead with a ground-ball single to right field.

Schultz found his groove at the end of the third inning, striking out three straight batters. He located a fastball on the outside corner to strike out former first-round pick Ed Howard to get out of the inning. Schultz gave up a leadoff single in the fourth, but got some help from his defense with two flyouts and a lineout to finish.

That was it for Schultz after 75 pitches, 48 of which were strikes, across four innings. He gave up eight hits and four earned runs while striking out five batters, walking one and hitting one.

The Barons scored five runs in the seventh inning, and four relief pitchers combined for five scoreless innings to secure a 6-4 win on Opening Day.

Related stories on minor league baseball

  • BURNS IMPRESSES: Cincinnati Reds' top prospect Chase Burns made his professional debut Friday night for the High-A Dayton Dragons, and he didn't disappoint. CLICK HERE
  • GOING BATTY FOR BATS: The Chicago White Sox High-A affiliate is turning the torpedo bat craze into a fun promotion. CLICK HERE:
  • PROMOTION:A Cleveland Guardians affiliate is giving start treatment to an NFL mom who happens to be a friend of Taylor Swift.CLICK HERE:
Published | Modified
Jack Ankony
JACK ANKONY

Jack Ankony covers baseball for “Minor League Baseball on SI.” He has been with the Sports Illustrated network since 2022. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism in 2022. Follow Jack on Twitter @ankony_jack

Home/NEWS