KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pitcher Noah Schultz has been impressive this season with Triple-A Charlotte.
The strong start has earned the 2022 first-round draft pick a promotion to the major leagues.
The Chicago White Sox will be calling up Schultz in the coming days, a source confirmed to the Tribune on Saturday night. The team made it official Sunday morning. Manager Will Venable said Schultz will start Tuesday’s series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays at Rate Field.
“He’s obviously in a really good spot, throwing a lot of strikes and getting a lot of soft contact,” Venable said. “So, excited about Noah.”
The 6-foot-10 left-hander is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three games (two starts) for the Knights. He has 19 strikeouts and two walks in 14 innings. Schultz, 22, is the No. 2 prospect in the Sox organization behind outfielder Braden Montgomery, according to MLB.com. The site also ranks Schultz as the No. 46 prospect in baseball.
“He’s about as nice a guy and polite a guy as can be, but he does have an edge when he goes out there and pitches, which you love to see,” Venable said. “Obviously, really dynamic with his size and how he throws and his ability to keep his body under control and repeat. His delivery is impressive. Just overall an impressive guy.”
Schultz, an Oswego East product, is 8-11 with a 2.94 ERA, 248 strikeouts and 77 walks in 202 1/3 innings over parts of four career minor-league seasons. He was the No. 26 pick in the 2022 draft.
Venable said Schultz displayed command for all his pitches while in big-league camp during spring training.
“And certainly a guy who last year lost out a little bit with some health stuff, and to be able to just come back and be healthy, just do what he does,” Venable said. “And that’s pound the zone, utilize the slider and the different fastballs that he’s got and find different ways to attack guys — so, yeah, he’s right on track doing those things.
“We saw it in spring training, and through his first three (outings) in Triple-A.”
Schultz’s progress was a topic of discussion when Sox adviser to pitching Brian Bannister met with reporters on April 5 at Rate Field.
“He’s in a good spot,” Bannister said. “The velo’s there, he’s healthy. You can just see his general smile and demeanor. He’s confident with where he’s at right now. The arsenal is there.”
Schultz will soon have the opportunity to display it all in the big leagues.
“He’s starting on Tuesday, and I think this is not a situation where we’re bringing a guy up as kind of a stopgap for one rotation spot,” Venable said. “So as we were mindful about bringing him up this year, the plan is not to bring him up and send him back out here, right? The thought is that we bring him up here when he’s ready, and go and let him do his thing.”
Schultz pitched 73 innings while making 17 starts between Double-A Birmingham and Charlotte last year. He was slowed somewhat by a right knee sprain. When it comes to an innings total moving forward, Venable said “we’ll monitor that as we go.”
Venable added, “As far as the exact number, not something that we’ve outlined to this point. We’ll monitor it knowing that there is going to be thoughtfulness on what he gets to, but we’ll talk about that as we get going.”
The Sox had several prospects, including shortstop Colson Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth, catchers Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero and pitcher Grant Taylor, make their debuts during the 2025 season. That process will continue early in 2026 with Schultz.
“We’re continuing to build here every day, and part of that is these young guys continuing to get better and getting up here and helping, and that’s obviously the ultimate goal here, where you have prospects that you like and believe in, helping them make that transition to help us win games here is what it’s all about,” Venable said.
“Winning is the most important thing and these guys are hopefully putting us in a better position to do that or else they wouldn’t be here.”
