Schultz invites longtime pitching coach to White Sox debut

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO – Mark Sheehan was at dinner Saturday night in Florida, with a band playing in the background, when he received a call from top White Sox pitching prospect Noah Schultz.

Even though Sheehan, who studied under Dr. Tom House, has guided Schultz’s mound work for nine years, his first thought was obvious: Why is Noah calling so late?

“Then it dawned on me like, ‘Oh my god,’” Sheehan told MLB.com during a Sunday phone conversation. “As soon as I answered, he goes, ‘Change your travel plans. You are going to Chicago.’ It was pretty amazing.”

Sheehan lives in Pompano Beach. With Schultz originally scheduled to pitch for Triple-A Charlotte in Jacksonville, Sheehan was going to make the drive to watch him live on Tuesday.

Here’s where the change of travel plans comes into play: Schultz will be promoted to make his Major League debut against the Rays at Rate Field tonight. The No. 2 White Sox prospect and No. 45 overall, per MLB Pipeline, will make his first of many starts for a team located about one hour from where Schultz attended high school at Oswego East.

That ongoing tutelage from Sheehan has helped the 22-year-old southpaw achieve his Major League dream. Work between these two began when Schultz was somewhere around 13 or 14, and his dad, Larry, brought him into Sheehan’s academy in Naperville. Schultz was 5-foot-9 and “a skinny little runt,” Sheehan added with a laugh.

He now checks in at 6-foot-10, 240 pounds.

Schultz played for Sheehan’s Evolution Athletics travel team and really started to grow when he got to high school. There was one summer where Sheehan didn’t really pitch Schultz much, just two innings by his recollection. As he pointed out, young players neurologically don’t grow as quickly as they do with skillsets during those major spurts.

In fact, Schultz played first base and a little bit of outfield.

“You know his body, he was kind of just arms and limbs all over, and they weren’t connected,” Sheehan said. “So, we tried to get him through training where we could get him to be a little more athletic. When that started setting in and he gained some strength, that’s when his velocity kicked up.

“He grew a foot in a year and a half, two years. And then he would come into the academy three times per week, and we would focus on mechanical efficiency and functional strength, mobility, and flexibility, all the things he needed to stay healthy. Then things just took off.”

As important as this early connection became for setting a base, it was superseded by the work the duo did together this past offseason. They didn’t interact in the offseason leading into ’25, and Schultz struggled that ensuing summer with a 9.37 ERA following a promotion to Triple-A Charlotte with patellar tendonitis in his right knee bothering him for much of the campaign.

With Sheehan having sort of retired to Florida, Schultz joined forces while also working out at the Boras Sports Institute within St. Thomas University in Miami. Schultz would work out with the strength guys at Boras in the morning, and then three or four times per week, he would team with Sheehan to do some drill work.

They eventually reached bullpens over the three months, without really making wholesale changes.

“We quickened up his timing a little bit,” Sheehan said. “We worked on his front side. His glove arm was starting to come a little early last summer. Then once that got locked in, it was let’s work on pitch shapes, and we focused a lot on his changeup and getting the slider back. He wasn’t able to sync things up with a good sequence in the summer.

“His slider lost some of its bite and shape. So, we threw that a lot and then mixed in his cutter here and there, which is doing great so far this spring.”

Having that right knee healthy has helped Schultz bounce back from that ’25 campaign. Now, Sheehan can join the rest of Schultz’s family, friends and representatives from Oswego in Chicago to see the fruits of their labor take the mound in his big league debut.

“He’s such a great kid,” Sheehan said. “I always knew he was destined to be a Major Leaguer, but when it really hits, it’s like ‘Wow.’ I couldn’t sleep [Saturday] night. My eyes watered. It’s really surreal.

“I’m still not sure what I’m feeling other than just excitement. I’m so happy for him. Last summer was the first time he ever experienced an unsuccessful season. I can see a different kind of fire in him.”