White Sox Top Pick Has Great Debut

The White Sox and many of their prospects have been very disappointing this year. The White Sox are nine games under .500 and most of their top prospects are either hurt or struggling. But, on Friday, first-round pick Noah Schultz made his season and overall debut in the minor leagues.

Good Night In Kannapolis

After drafting Schultz with the 26th overall pick last year, Sox fans have had to wait until recently to see him pitch. After he was drafted, he was sent to Arizona to develop in the fall league, but those leagues aren't heavily covered.

Unfortunately, Schultz started off this year with a forearm strain and was unable to pitch at an affiliate for the first few months of the season. But, Friday that all changed.

Shultz was able to log two innings in his debut. I would imagine they are going to take things slow with him to prevent any further injury to his arm. Hopefully, they ramp him up to six or seven innings by the end of the season.

In his debut, Schultz showed everyone why he was a top pick. In just two innings he struck out five batters and gave up just one hit. That is pretty good for someone's first-ever minor league game.

Schultz Has Major League Stuff

The tall lefty has a great arsenal of pitches that includes a mid-high 90s fastball and a devastating slider that is shown a couple of times in the clip. If he is able to repeat this on a consistent basis, he will not be in Kannapolis for very long.

What makes Schultz so unique is his arm slot. Coming from that angle while being that tall makes it difficult for hitters to see the ball. The less time the hitter can see the ball, the less likely they are going to be able to hit it.

When you combine that arm slot with the upper 90s fastball and a slider all from the same release point, it will be very hard for people to pick up, even at the major league level. Even pitchers with some okay stuff can do well in the majors because they have funky arms slots. But with Schultz, his stuff is very good so it can be an absolutely lethal combination.

It has been a while since the Sox have had a top pitching prospect in the system, but Schultz is looking like the next one if he can pitch like this consistently. He is only 19 and just was in high school last year so there will be natural growing pains, but he looks like he has all the tools to succeed at the major league level.