White Sox No. 5 Prospect Continues To Shine In Arizona Fall League

This White Sox prospect continued his AFL surge on Thursday.

Jul 8, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox logo is seen on Rate Field before a baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and Toronto Blue Jays. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Chicago White Sox put together yet another disappointing season in 2025. While not as noteworthy as their record setting 121-loss season in 2024, they still went 60-102 and had the worst record in the American League.

However, despite the struggles of their Major League team, there are some reasons to be excited about the future. There are some very intriguing prospects that may soon be ready to take the next step in their careers.

The Arizona Fall League is currently taking place, and the White Sox have some of their prospects in the mix, including left-hander Hagen Smith, who put together a solid performance on Thursday night, striking out five batters across three scoreless innings.

White Sox No. 5 Prospect Dominates In AFL Outing

Jul 3, 2018; Cincinnati, OH, USA; A view of the American flag in the Sox logo on an official White Sox New Era on field hat during the game of the Chicago White Sox against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Smith is MLB Pipeline's No. 88 ranked prospect. The 22-year-old left-hander was the selected by the White Sox with the fifth pick in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft out of the University of Arkansas.

He spent all of 2025 in Double-A Birmingham, going 3-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 20 starts and recording 108 strikeouts. He has recorded nine strikeouts over six scoreless innings in the AFL.

The AFL is typically a great opportunity for players to make up for lost time due to injuries or for organizations to get a closer look at some of their top prospects. Smith had a full season, but the White Sox clearly want to see more, and so far, he has put together two very solid performances.

The White Sox obviously don't have much to look forward to in terms of their big-league roster entering the 2026 season, but they do have plenty of young prospects that may be close to taking the next step, and Smith could be one of them.

The Arkansas product has performed well in the minor leagues thus far and is slowly making progress towards taking the next step and potentially factoring into the White Sox's Major League plans in the near future.

There is a lot to be excited about with Smith, and the White Sox can at the very least look towards the future with a little hope, even if their short-term outlook is bleak.

It will be interesting to see what Smith can do the rest of the way in the AFL and if he can build some momentum heading into 2026.

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