Noah Schultz to make MLB debut on Tuesday

White Sox top pitching prospect Noah Schultz is expected to make his MLB debut Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Rate Field.

The 6-foot-10 left-hander out of Oswego East High School was the organization's first-round pick at No. 26 overall in the 2022 draft.  

There are two things that came to mind when I heard this news:

1. The move seems reasonable. Fans are forever worried about "rushing" prospects to the majors, but the other school of thought says, "There's no such thing as a pitching prospect." With the high volume of arm injuries around professional baseball, it seems senseless to allow a pitcher to waste bullets dominating Triple-A.

And Schultz has been dominating Triple-A. In three games with Charlotte this season, he's 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA. In 14 innings pitched, he's allowed only two earned runs on four hits. He's struck out 19 and walked just two.

Neither right-handed nor left-handed batters have done much with Schultz. He was drafted as a sinker-slider pitcher, and those two pitches in combination with his arm angle allow him to dominate lefties. But he's added a cutter and a changeup to his mix to help him keep righties at bay.

In fact, Schultz is a five-pitch pitcher now: four-seamer, two-seamer, cutter, slider, change. I would expect to see mostly two-seamers and sliders against lefties, and two-seamers and cutters against righties. The four-seamer and the changeup are more for show than anything, based upon scouting reports I've read.

The other thing is, there's a need in Chicago. Shane Smith was sent to Charlotte to work out his problems, so somebody has to start in that spot. Schultz has earned the opportunity. It's OK to see what he does with it.

2. The hype is unnecessary and ridiculous. Yes, it's exciting news when a top prospect is called up. Fans are looking forward to seeing Schultz in a Sox uniform. But the three hours of Schulz programming on Chicago Sports Network leading into Tuesday's game seems a little excessive.

You can watch replays of a previous outing from Schultz, hear him on the Chuck Garfien podcast and watch the "Road to the Chi" special featuring him Tuesday before the game. Good grief, no pressure, kid. Let's hope he doesn't give up five runs in 2.1 innings or something like that.

It's always a little rough when a promising prospect is called up into a losing situation. The Sox are 6-10. They haven't looked great, and fans and team media are looking for anything they can clutch onto to create excitement. Sometimes that leads to a young kid being treated as Lord and Savior.

We should take a lesson from Gordon Beckham, Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech. Pump the brakes a little on the hype. Give the kid some air, and let's hope his talent shines through.