Some spring training/scouting reports on 3 White Sox pitching prospects written by Fantasy guy Chris Clegg.
Sean Burke, RHP, Chicago White Sox
Burke tossed two innings on Wednesday with one unearned run allowed, but allowed just one hit and walk a piece, while striking out two. The most notable thing was Burke throwing 40 pitches and landing 28 of them for strikes. Sure it was a small sample, but something that is going to be very important for Burke to be a viable starting pitcher.
Throwing a new sinker that sat 95 mph and has 11 inches of arm-side run, it gives Burke another out pitch. The arsenal is five pitches deep and also worth noting that Burke led with his slider.
Burke missed the early parts of 2024 due to a shoulder injury. After returning to Triple-A in late May, Burke pitched quite well considering the home ballpark in Charlotte and the hitter-friendly International League. Posting a 4.62 ERA across 64 innings won't impress anyone, but a handful of rough starts skewed the ERA a bit. After getting the call to the majors, Burke was rather impressive, posting a 1.42 ERA across 19 innings with 22 strikeouts.
With a strike rate slightly below average, Burke walked 13 percent of hitters in Triple-A, but the zone there is fairly tight with the ABS system. The four-seam fastball is Burke’s primary offering, sitting around 95 mph with over 18 inches of IVB from his 6’2” release height. The pitch gets heavy extension near seven feet and has high spin rates, which allow it to play well up in the zone.
The slider is a gyro-shape, sitting 85-87 mph and missing bats at a high clip. It pairs well with his change, which sits in a similar velocity band and has a heavy arm-side movement of 14 inches. The changeup and slider have slightly lower release points than the fastball and curveball.
Burke’s curveball has impressive depth, around negative 16 inches of IVB, and is in the upper 70s. It has an 11-5 shape and nearly 40 percent whiff rate in 2024.
Noah Schultz, LHP, Chicago White Sox
Schultz tossed a scoreless inning in his Cactus League debut on Wednesday, but showed off an impressive arsenal of pitches. He generated three whiffs on three swings and even showed a new cutter to pair with his sinker. It was just eight pitches, so there was not a ton to take away, but Schultz showed why he is one of the best pitching prospects in the game.
After being selected 26th overall in the 2022 MLB Draft, Schultz has done nothing but dominate as a professional. The 2023 season saw him pitch just 27 innings due to an arm injury, but the results were stellar. The 2024 season was arguably better as Schultz tossed 88.1 innings between High-A and Double-A. Upon his promotion to Double-A, Schultz posted a 1.48 ERA in 61 innings.
Considering how big Schultz is, he commands his pitches extremely well. His strike rate of north of 64 percent in 2024 was rather impressive, and Schultz walked less than seven percent of the batters he faced.
Schultz’s fastball lives in the 94-96 range, topping out at 98 with a nice armside run. He often landed it for strikes and worked both sides of the plate well. There is low effort throughout his entire arsenal, but given the frame, he could add more velocity.
The slider ranges from 79 to 83 mph and has nice sweeping action. Schultz was comfortable front- and back-dooring hitters with it and sequenced it well. It consistently gets north of 15 inches of sweep.
Hagen Smith, LHP, Chicago White Sox
Smith was utterly dominant in his Cactus League debut, striking out three batters in an inning of work and generating four whiffs. His fastball averaged 97 mph which was up from 2024, though it was just 11 pitches. The slider was disgusting and missed four bats on seven swings.
Last year, Smith’s fastball sat in the 94-96 range, generating 14-15 inches of IVB from a 5’7” release height, getting 13 inches of horizontal movement. The pitch was effective, and he missed bats when he located it well. There were times when he missed his spots, which is when he was hit around. Maybe it is fatigue from a long season or just adjusting to pro ball, but the command was inconsistent.
Smith’s slider morphed into a cutter at times, with some having -5 inches of IVB, while others having shorter horizontal and 4 inches of IVB. You can see in the video below where some had longer sweeping action, and he used the pitch efficiently against lefties and righties. The slider sat in the lower 80s while the cutter was 85-86.
He does have a splitter in the profile, but has not thrown in it pro-ball, so I will be watching that closely as the season begins in 2025.
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