White Sox Make Surprise Selection In The First Round

With the 5th pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, the Chicago White Sox selected Hagen Smith, a left handed pitcher from the University of Arkansas.

This comes as a bit of a surprise, as it almost seemed as a forgone conclusion the White Sox were going to select a position player in the draft, as that is where they are the weakest in their farm system. Instead, the White Sox add another dominant pitcher to their farm system over two of the higher regarded college bats in the draft.

However, the White Sox still got an elite prospect. In 16 starts in his junior year, Smith pitched 84 innings for the Razorbacks. Smith had a 2.36 ERA with an elite .893 WHIP. In those 84 innings, Smith struck out an outstanding 161 batters for a 17.3 K/9 ratio, which lead all of Division One.

Smith’s 2024 season was historic, as his K/9 ratio was a D1 record, as nobody was as efficient in striking out batters in NCAA D1 history as Hagen Smith was. He also won the National Pitcher of the Year award, as if you needed another reason to draft him.

Smith now joins a White Sox farm system that is absolutely loaded with pitching talent. They already have a top 15-20 prospect in Noah Schutlz, while consensus top-40 prospect Drew Thorpe is pitching well in his first taste of major league action.

The White Sox also have some other fantastic pitching in the minors, as Jake Eder, Ky Bush, Mason Adams, Sean Burke, and Nick Nastrini are all highly regarded in the White Sox system and are close to making their debuts.

It seems the White Sox took note of Paul Skenes flying through the minors and dominating in the MLB in less than one year after he was drafted, so they probably figure that Smith can be on the same path. While Smith is not as of a highly regarded prospect as Skenes, he is similar in his ability to get swings and misses at an elite level, even topping Skenes’ marks from his 2023 college season. While Smith making his debut in early 2025 may be a stretch, it is not out of the realm of possibilities to see him make his debut towards the end of the year.

While White Sox fans can get excited about this pick, it likely signals the end of Garrett Crochet’s tenure with the White Sox, as it is likely that Smith is the quick to the majors replacement for Crochet within a year or so. While there is still a chance that Crochet sticks around, this significantly raises the chances that Crochet is dealt at the deadline.

If Crochet does stick around, the idea of a rotation that features Crochet, Smith, Noah Schultz, and Drew Thorpe should get White Sox fans very excited about the future.

It is fitting that Smith was drafted by the White Sox, as he has drawn comparisons to former White Sox starters Chris Sale and Carlos Rodon. If he is somewhere in-between the two, that would be a win, as both pitchers have elite major league stuff. MLB Pipeline had Smith ranked as their 5th best prospect in the draft and a 60/80 overall grade.

Smith is an elite pitching prospect and should give the White Sox another top-100 prospect when they update the list.