The White Sox Need Hope
Since 2009, the Chicago White Sox have been terrible. Over those 17 seasons, they’ve made two postseason appearances (once during the pandemic-shortened 60-game 2020 season) and won two postseason games. Win totals in the 60s are common. The White Sox flirted with MLB history in 2024. On pace to be the worst team ever in the modern era, the club won five of their final six games, to climb to 41-121. With a .253 winning percentage, those White Sox narrowly avoided the bottom of the historical standings, eclipsing the 1962 Mets (40-120, .250).
To be a White Sox fan since 2009 is to know losing like few fans in any sport. Baseball’s an everyday game, 162 games over the course of about 180 days, with a four-day All-Star break in July. It’s tough for fans to follow a losing team. It’s nearly impossible for fans who retain even an ounce of optimism to follow a team that continually finishes at or near the very bottom of a 30-team league.
Enter Noah Schultz. As a “Peanuts” fan, I’d like to say Noah is Charles’ grandson, but research bears no fruit. Schultz is a German/Dutch surname that means head of the village, the sheriff, mayor and tax collector in medieval Germany. Standing 6’10” on top of a major league mound, Noah is prepared to collect strikeouts. Hitters will be taxed.
Schultz won’t turn 23 until August, but he’s set to debut on Tuesday night. Born in the Chicago suburb of Naperville, 30 miles west of Chicago, Schultz grew quickly and dominated early. He worked with pitching coaches to repeat his delivery, often the trickiest aspect of pitching for the extraordinary tall. Major League Baseball has seen only a handful of 6’10” or taller pitchers. The latest two are Sean Hjelle and Jon Rauch, both 6’11” relievers, who’ve had only modest success.
The most well-known tall pitcher is Randy Johnson, the lefty ace who entered the Hall of Fame in 2015. Johnson navigated control problems throughout his 20s, but once he found strike-zone command at age 29, he was nearly unhittable for most of the next decade. Naturally, Schulz has been compared to “The Big Unit”—some have dubbed him “Baby Randy Johnson.” However, a closer comparison might be former White Sox star Chris Sale. Like Sale and Johnson, Schultz operates from a low ¾ arm slot, and mixes his sinking mid-90s fastball (topping out at 99) with a devastating slider. The low angle adds deception to the already difficult horizontal-movement of the slider. It’s easy to envision Schultz fooling major league hitters.
In the 2022 draft, Schultz was selected out of high school at the end of the first round (26th) by the White Sox. He signed for $2.8 million and opted out of his Vanderbilt commitment. In April 2023, his first professional season, Schultz had a forearm injury. Later that year, he was shut down with a shoulder strain. In 2024, Schultz took off. By May, he was promoted to AA Birmingham. The White Sox restricted his innings to keep him healthy. By the end of 2024, Schultz became one of baseball’s top pitching prospects. He won the AA Southern League Pitcher of the Year. Over 23 starts, he turned in a 2.24 ERA and struck out 115 batters in 88 ⅓ innings. Last year, Schultz battled patellar tendonitis in the knee of his landing leg. He was promoted to AAA in June, but was shut down due to the knee injury. Schultz’s year was up and down as a result. During the offseason, he strengthened the knee with physical therapy.
Which leads us to the 2026 season. The White Sox have three young arms that have gained attention. Along with Schultz, Hagen Smith and Tanner McDougal are likely to debut this summer. White Sox fans have reasons for optimism at last.
Tuesday night, Noah Schultz will toe the mound on the South Side, facing the Tampa Bay Rays. If Schultz can calm his nerves and repeat his delivery, the fans will have one very tall reason to come out to the ballpark. The White Sox may finally be on their way to escaping the flood of losses, at least once every five days.