CHICAGO – Noah Schultz belongs in the Majors.
That point certainly isn’t stepping out on a baseball limb when focusing upon the No. 2 White Sox prospect and No. 43 overall, according to MLB Pipeline. But in his three starts since joining the White Sox, including a stellar effort Saturday against the Nationals during a 6-3 loss in 10 innings, the 6-foot-10 southpaw has reinforced his status.
“Yeah, you know, just going about my business, going about every day with how I do stuff throughout the day,” said Schultz of his development from his debut on April 14 to Saturday’s effort. “Going through a game plan and scouting the guys. A lot of things that I wish I improved on today, things that I definitely need to work on.”
“He’s got a lot of ... different ways to get guys out,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “That’s the great thing about Noah, he’s in tune with his stuff. ... When one thing is not working, he’s able to pivot and find different ways to attack hitters.”
Schultz was attacking Washington hitters on a sunny day at Rate Field, but with a late-afternoon first pitch also featuring a 49-degree game time temperature. A 90s City Connect jacket giveaway, coupled with the recent White Sox exciting brand of baseball, had Schultz and the White Sox practicing their craft in front of 35,174 raucous fans.
It’s the largest crowd for an April game that was not a home opener since April 29, 2007 vs. the Angels, when the attendance was 38,513 on a day that Mark Buehrle suffered his first loss and Darin Erstad homered. The 22-year-old Schultz was up to Saturday’s challenge.
Over 85 pitches and six innings, Schultz struck out eight. All three numbers represent career highs in Schultz’s brief big league stint.
“I don’t think that confidence is ever an issue for him. He’s a very confident guy,” Venable said. “Each one of these starts, we see the confidence grow in his ability to be effective in the zone. When he’s not effective in the zone, he gets back in the zone. So just continuing to develop into a really good starter for us.”
“Being able to use all five pitches the way I want, definitely,” Schultz said. “I wish I threw a couple more changeups in there today. Something obviously to work on for next week.”
In that first start against the Rays, Schultz wasn’t satisfied with his sweeper. He used that pitch more effectively Saturday, recording three of his whiffs on a pitch he threw 21 times, according to Statcast. Those same Statcast figures showed his four-seam and two-seam velocities down, but even with four walks, Schultz pitched effectively and worked his way out of trouble.
“Felt good. A lot of things I was working on. A lot of good things I did, bad things I did,” Schultz said. “[The sweeper] felt a lot better.
“Definitely something that we worked on this week. We're going to continue to work on everything, but something that I definitely worked on a ton this week that I was happy to see it play better.”
The White Sox took Schultz off the hook for a loss by rallying for two in the eighth to tie the game at two. Miguel Vargas started that frame with a walk from Mitchell Parker and moved to second when Colson Montgomery was hit by a pitch. Everson Pereira singled off Gus Varland, a one-time White Sox hurler, to score Vargas, and Chase Meidroth delivered the game-tying sacrifice fly following a Tanner Murray sacrifice bunt.
Washington scored four in the 10th against Jordan Leasure to even the series, with Leasure replacing Grant Taylor, who struck out two and threw only nine pitches in a perfect ninth. With Taylor’s recent workload, Venable said Taylor was on a one-inning limit. Tyler Davis also made his Major League debut, striking out two in the eighth on his mother’s birthday.
Saturday’s performance represented another solid, team-oriented fight for the White Sox, but that fight came up a little short. Schultz continued to establish himself as a vital and skilled pitcher even at this early career point, while Schultz gave credit to the players behind him.
“Getting experience definitely helps,” Schultz said. “But again, going to the stellar defense behind me, something that helps me be more confident in myself, know that the guys behind me got my back.”
“He understands his skillset,” Venable said. “He understands how to attack hitters in different ways. Just a guy who is for a young guy, feels very polished.”