Pair of White Sox Top Prospects Set to Make Their MLB Debuts
The Chicago White Sox have quietly been putting together a nice unit to build around for the foreseeable future as they have done a good job of drafting and acquiring in the trade market well. They will reap some of the benefits of their work on Tuesday as they are giving two of their top prospects their first chances at the big league level in front of the hometown south side faithful against the Rays. The two prospects consist of left-handed pitcher Noah Schultz and left-handed hitting infielder Sam Antonacci.
Noah Schultz, the more highly-touted prospect out of the two, will be getting the start on the mound for the Sox against Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan. Schultz was a first round draft pick at 26th overall in the 2022 draft out of Oswego East High School - about an hour west of where he’ll be making his big league debut on Tuesday night. Standing at 6’10” and 240 pounds, Schultz is quite the unicorn on the mound and will certainly be a tough look for opposing hitters. Even without accounting for his longer levels that leads to the ball getting on hitters much faster, Schultz creates a lot of deception with a cross-fire delivery and lower release point that creates all kinds of unique shapes and looks for hitters.
He throws three different fastball shapes - a four-seam, sinker, and cutter. The four-seam and sinker both sit in the mid-90s and reach as high as 99 mph. The four-seam is more of a “dead zone” shape, but what it lacks in shape, Schultz makes up for with a flatter approach angle due to his lower release point. The sinker is real depthy with a ton of arm-side run, a real ground ball producer. The cutter is a new addition to the pitch mix, working in the upper-80s to low-90s with a true cutter shape. His low-80s sweeper is his best pitch, one that he can spin upwards of 3000 RPMs with a ton of glove-side movement and some depth. It’s far and away his best “out” pitch as it has yielded a 54.2% chase rate and a 61.1% whiff rate this spring. His upper-80s changeup is a third arm-side offering to go to, and while it’s shape blends with the sinker, there’s roughly 7-8 mph of velo separation there and ability to kill spin.
Schultz’s command has been the sticking point for him throughout his Minor League career, as it typically is for pitchers his size, especially for those that come from the high school ranks. It looked really good out of the gate in the lower levels of the minors in 2023 as he posted a 5.8% walk rate at Low-A Kannapolis before posting a 6.7% walk rate between High-A Winston Salem and Double-A Birmingham in 2024. However, it backed up on him in a big way in 2025 as he also dealt with some injury. Upon his return to Double-A, Schultz walked 14.4% of the hitters he faced in 56.2 innings of work before advancing to Triple-A where he walked 11.7% of the hitters he faced. His strikeout stuff wasn’t nearly as good either as he struck out just 23.2% of hitters across the two levels in 2025 compared to his 32.1% strikeout rate in 2024. He dealt with patellar tendinitis in his knee, an injury that sidelined him for the month of July and ended his season prematurely at the end of August. That’s definitely an injury that could lead to command issues given it could effect an a pitcher’s ability to repeat his delivery and throw from the mound with conviction.
Fast forward to 2026 and it looks like Schultz’s knee is to full health as he tore up hitters at Triple-A Charlotte. It only took 14 innings of work across three games for the White Sox to decide to give Schultz his shot as he surrendered just two earned runs and posted a 0.43 WHIP while striking out 40.4% of hitters and walking just 4.3%. There’s no doubt that Noah Schultz has big league stuff at the ripe age of 22 years old. The question on Tuesday will be just how well he can execute his game plan.
Although a year older than Schultz, Sam Antonacci didn’t enter the White Sox system until two years after Schultz as he was selected 140th overall in the fifth round of the 2024 draft to the White Sox out of Coastal Carolina. He wasn’t nearly as highly-touted as Schultz, but has recently become a buzzy name in the prospect world. For starters, he raked in his first full professional season a year ago between High-A and Double-A. In 519 plate appearances, Antonacci only hit five home runs, but he also posted an .842 OPS and a 156 wRC+. Through 63 plate appearances at Triple-A thus far in 2026, Antonacci is up to a .928 OPS and a 154 wRC+ with two home runs under his belt already.
The 5’11” 195 pound left-handed hitter produces at the plate through plus contact skills and an advanced approach which pairs well with his speed and aggression on the bases. He was successful in 48 of his 58 stolen base attempts last year, a mark that ranked second among all White Sox Minor League hitters. He also nearly drew more walks than strikeouts as he posted a 14.1% strikeout rate to a 13.3% walk rate. In his relatively small sample at Triple-A, he’s sporting a ridiculous 23.8% walk rate to just an 11.1% strikeout rate. He’s currently running a 91.1% zone-contact rate, well above the league average, and just a 12.9% chase rate, a mark well below the league average. That type of profile at the plate fits into any lineup given the athleticism he brings to the table as well.
Defensively, Antonacci has bounced around on the dirt during his pro career to this point, but is likely to find a long-term home at second base. He can slide over to the left side of the infield in a pinch, providing the White Sox with some defensive flexibility and will have the chance to provide some above-average defense at second base. The overall package presents Antonacci as somewhat of a “glue guy” that should get a lot of opportunities for the White Sox given his versatility across his game.
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