The 2024 season for the Chicago White Sox was one of the worst in modern day baseball history. They were 41-121 and the worst team in the league by far. The bright spots were few and far between, as the team was very hard to watch for many White Sox fans.
However, down on the farm, the White Sox have some very intriguing players that can give fans a glimmer of hope for the future. We will be recapping the seasons of some of the best prospects in the White Sox system, starting from #30 and going in order to #1 as MLB Pipeline has them ranked. As you’ll see, there are some very intriguing prospects that can help bring the White Sox back to relevance.
Sitting at number two on the list is starting pitcher Hagen Smith, the first round pick for the White Sox in the 2024 draft. The rankings we relied on were released prior to the Garrett Crochet trade that sent Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery into our top 5. So, as it currently sits, Smith is ranked as the White Sox #3 prospect on MLB Pipeline, but he was #2 before the trade.
Before getting drafted, Smith had an absolutely dominant college season which saw him pitch to a 2.04 ERA with a .893 WHIP over 84 innings. In those innings, Smith struck out an insane 161 batters, while only walking 34. If the strikeouts weren’t an indication, hitters didn’t fare too well against him, as they hit a measly .144 against him.
HAGEN. SMITH. FILTH. ????????
12 outs. 12 Ks. pic.twitter.com/h1NPgfX9xW
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) February 24, 2024
Those were absolutely phenomenal stats, and to put them in comparison, in Paul Skenes’ last college season, he had a 15.3 K/9 ratio, while Smith broke records with his 17.3 K/9 ratio. To see Skenes come in and dominate like he did last year should get fans excited about Smith. While Smith likely isn’t as good as Skenes, it may be a bit closer than you think.
After the White Sox selected Smith with the 5th overall pick, he went on to pitch at High-A Winston-Salem. He pitched in just 7.2 innings, striking out 7 batters. He had a very solid 3.52 ERA and a 1.174 WHIP. These are solid numbers but in an extremely small sample size.
Hagen Smith’s first professional strikeout ???? pic.twitter.com/wwQyg7TNTa
— Milb Central (@milb_central) August 24, 2024
I am curious to see how the White Sox handle him, as there is a chance they start him off at AA and put him on the fast track to the major leagues. Otherwise, if they start him back at High-A, expect a promotion to AA sooner rather than later.
Noah Schultz gets a lot of hype as the White Sox number one prospect, and he should, but there is a very good chance that Smith is just as good if not better in the major leagues than Schultz.
