Oswego’s Schultz looks good in spring debut for White Sox

Noah Schultz woke up feeling under the weather Wednesday, but it didn't stop the Oswego native from making the most of his big-league spring debut.

The 6-foot-9 lefthander worked one scoreless inning in the White Sox' 3-1 loss to San Diego in Glendale, Ariz. Schultz was a first-round pick in 2022 and split last season between Class-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham, so this was technically his first time facing major-league hitting.

Schultz started the fifth inning by allowing a single to Mike Brosseau, but followed by coaxing a double-play grounder to short from Niko Goodrum and ended the inning with a flyout to left by Mason McCoy.

Hagen Smith took the mound in the six inning, allowed a single, then walked former White Sox outfielder Gavin Sheets. But Smith, the team's 2024 first-round pick out of Arkansas, ended up striking out the side, including Ethan Salas and Connor Joe with runners on first and third.

The White Sox scored their lone run when Palatine native and former Cub Mike Tauchman homered to right field in the sixth.

Overall, this was a decent day for Sox pitchers. Right-hander Sean Burke worked the first two innings and allowed an unearned run. Bryse Wilson followed with 2 scoreless innings. Burke and Wilson are both candidates to be in the starting rotation, while Schultz and Smith will almost certainly start the season in the minors, where the plan is to get them used to pitching every fifth day. Schultz and Smith rank 1-2 among all left-handed pitching prospects, according to MLB Pipeline.

Offense has been a concern so far for the White Sox, who fell to 0-5 in exhibitions. The team is hitting an MLB-low .155 so far in spring training.