Move Hagen Smith to the bullpen to help the White Sox compete in 2026?

[ron883]

The White Sox have been known for moving guys to the bullpen while developing. It worked out spectacularly with Sale and Crochet. The Sox showed they are serious about competing this year by signing Murakami. The AL Central is typically a joke, and since this is baseball after all, anything can happen. The team has a plethora of young talent and it wouldn't be surprising if they competed for the division. 

Should we give Hagen the Sale/Crochet treatment and let him develop while he dominates in the bullpen? That would surely bolster our bullpen. I'm not sure if the new front office is gutsy enough to do it. Maybe with a little pressure from Jerry to try and compete they would do it. 

[fathom]

No shot, they’re not competing in 2026 anyways.  Smith needs to work on so much anyways.

[Bob Sacamano]

I couldn’t vote “No” any quicker 

[southsider2k5]

 

[nrockway]

it worked for Sale and Crochet. Seemingly it's a viable way to get acclimated to MLB. Although, I see Schultz more so in that role than Hagen based on their respective injury histories. 

In a perfect world, Schultz and Hagen both come up and start and relegate Kay and Newcomb to the bullpen though. I voted "yes" but I wanted to vote "I dunno, maybe, it depends".

[ron883]

9 minutes ago, nrockway said:

it worked for Sale and Crochet. Seemingly it's a viable way to get acclimated to MLB. Although, I see Schultz more so in that role than Hagen based on their respective injury histories. 

In a perfect world, Schultz and Hagen both come up and start and relegate Kay and Newcomb to the bullpen though. I voted "yes" but I wanted to vote "I dunno, maybe, it depends".

Would be interesting if they did this route with both Schultz and Hagen. That would be a solid bullpen. 

[chitownsportsfan]

Paying the Ron Tax to start the new year. Wish ignored users wouldn't show up on my threads as well. 

[TheBooneLoganEra]

Hard no. The path to a competent 2026 team could very well have either Schultz or Hagen having a breakout season. Which I think is very possible. 

[SoxBlanco]

2 minutes ago, TheBooneLoganEra said:

Hard no. The path to a competent 2026 team could very well have either Schultz or Hagen having a breakout season. Which I think is very possible. 

When do people expect them to get the call up?

Hopefully they follow Colson’s strategy of dominating in the majors after looking shaky in AA and/or AAA prior to getting the call. Seems like many fans have faded on both of them, similar to how they faded on Colson. 

[southsider2k5]

4 minutes ago, SoxBlanco said:

When do people expect them to get the call up?

Hopefully they follow Colson’s strategy of dominating in the majors after looking shaky in AA and/or AAA prior to getting the call. Seems like many fans have faded on both of them, similar to how they faded on Colson. 

Hopefully when they are pitching closer to their ceilings. 

[WhiteSox2023]

Hagen Smith needs to learn how to not walk the world, but moving him to the bullpen this early would be a failure.

[DirtySox]

Nah. Let them both work it out in the minors and hopefully stay healthy. So much hinges on them approaching their ceilings.

Edited 18 hours ago by DirtySox

[TheBooneLoganEra]

1 hour ago, SoxBlanco said:

When do people expect them to get the call up?

Hopefully they follow Colson’s strategy of dominating in the majors after looking shaky in AA and/or AAA prior to getting the call. Seems like many fans have faded on both of them, similar to how they faded on Colson. 

I think theres something to this. People discount or fail to pay attention to the psychological aspect of these kids at this point in their career. If they feel they stall, where they should be continuing to advance, it 100 percent has a role in their development. I think this was certainly the case with Colson. Everyone is so obsessed with numbers and peripherals that the head is ignored. I think with the talent of these two specifically they could just come up and take right off.

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

What a stupid idea

[SoxBlanco]

47 minutes ago, TheBooneLoganEra said:

I think theres something to this. People discount or fail to pay attention to the psychological aspect of these kids at this point in their career. If they feel they stall, where they should be continuing to advance, it 100 percent has a role in their development. I think this was certainly the case with Colson. Everyone is so obsessed with numbers and peripherals that the head is ignored. I think with the talent of these two specifically they could just come up and take right off.

Agreed. The numbers can especially be misleading for pitchers because we don’t know what they are being asked to work on. 

[vilehoopster]

3 hours ago, TheBooneLoganEra said:

I think theres something to this. People discount or fail to pay attention to the psychological aspect of these kids at this point in their career. If they feel they stall, where they should be continuing to advance, it 100 percent has a role in their development. I think this was certainly the case with Colson. Everyone is so obsessed with numbers and peripherals that the head is ignored. I think with the talent of these two specifically they could just come up and take right off.

I'm sorry but I have to use some serious sarcasm here: You're right, starting out in the bullpen just destroyed Chris Sale and Garrett Crochet. Oh my God! It ruined both of them and their careers!

I am surprised that so many people are against this. Do the fans here have no sense of history, no memory of Sale and Crochet?  I've been thinking the Sox should move him up for the bullpen since watching him in the AFL. He is a strikeout machine, and since the Barons' playoff run and in the AFL, his walk problem has really improved (or become less bad). 

Plus the White Sox really need help from the left side in the bullpen. 

Plus, with a quality bullpen (Get a closer, Getz), I think there is a very real possibility that the White Sox will be competitive next year. (My definition of competitive is to win around 75 games and be able to claim you're in the hunt for the last wild card spot into early September) 

Plus, I want to go one step further: After you put Hagen in the bullpen, now you can start working on making Grant Taylor the starter that he wants to be and should be. 

Are we not worried about Taylor's psychological makeup at this point in his career?  Only Hagen's?

Edited 13 hours ago by vilehoopster
left out a word

[WestEddy]

41 minutes ago, vilehoopster said:

Are we not worried about Taylor's psychological makeup at this point in his career?  Only Hagen's?

Have you missed all the kvetching around here over Taylor starting his MLB career in the bullpen to ramp up his innings?

[TheBooneLoganEra]

44 minutes ago, vilehoopster said:

I'm sorry but I have to use some serious sarcasm here: You're right, starting out in the bullpen just destroyed Chris Sale and Garrett Crochet. Oh my God! It ruined both of them and their careers!

I am surprised that so many people are against this. Do the fans here have no sense of history, no memory of Sale and Crochet?  I've been thinking the Sox should move him up for the bullpen since watching him in the AFL. He is a strikeout machine, and since the Barons' playoff run and in the AFL, his walk problem has really improved (or become less bad). 

Plus the White Sox really need help from the left side in the bullpen. 

Plus, with a quality bullpen (Get a closer, Getz), I think there is a very real possibility that the White Sox will be competitive next year. (My definition of competitive is to win around 75 games and be able to claim you're in the hunt for the last wild card spot into early September) 

Plus, I want to go one step further: After you put Hagen in the bullpen, now you can start working on making Grant Taylor the starter that he wants to be and should be. 

Are we not worried about Taylor's psychological makeup at this point in his career?  Only Hagen's?

No I don't think they've handled Taylor appropriately thus far. I dont know where it stated i did. Nor did my post you referenced say anything about the decision to possibly use Hagen in the pen. I think that decision is unique to each player. And im not privy enough to his development to make a completely accurate decision but I've never been a fan of taking a starter, making them a relief pitcher, then a starter again. Does it work sometimes? Sure but I feel like it could throw an unnecessary wrench in development as well. 

[SoxBlanco]

1 hour ago, vilehoopster said:

I'm sorry but I have to use some serious sarcasm here: You're right, starting out in the bullpen just destroyed Chris Sale and Garrett Crochet. Oh my God! It ruined both of them and their careers!

I am surprised that so many people are against this. Do the fans here have no sense of history, no memory of Sale and Crochet?  I've been thinking the Sox should move him up for the bullpen since watching him in the AFL. He is a strikeout machine, and since the Barons' playoff run and in the AFL, his walk problem has really improved (or become less bad). 

Plus the White Sox really need help from the left side in the bullpen. 

Plus, with a quality bullpen (Get a closer, Getz), I think there is a very real possibility that the White Sox will be competitive next year. (My definition of competitive is to win around 75 games and be able to claim you're in the hunt for the last wild card spot into early September) 

Plus, I want to go one step further: After you put Hagen in the bullpen, now you can start working on making Grant Taylor the starter that he wants to be and should be. 

Are we not worried about Taylor's psychological makeup at this point in his career?  Only Hagen's?

How do all those words you typed have anything to do with the post you quoted? We were discussing how players can sometimes struggle in AAA and then succeed in the majors, like Colson. It had nothing to do with using Smith in the bullpen. 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

[Y2Jimmy0]

I think moving guys like Aldrin Batista and Mathias LaCombe to relief roles in advance of R5 makes sense. Smith, Schultz and McDougal are basically their only hope for awhile at top of rotation arms. They must stay in rotation. 

[tray]

18 hours ago, ron883 said:

The White Sox have been known for moving guys to the bullpen while developing. It worked out spectacularly with Sale and Crochet. The Sox showed they are serious about competing this year by signing Murakami. The AL Central is typically a joke, and since this is baseball after all, anything can happen. The team has a plethora of young talent and it wouldn't be surprising if they competed for the division. 

Should we give Hagen the Sale/Crochet treatment and let him develop while he dominates in the bullpen? That would surely bolster our bullpen. I'm not sure if the new front office is gutsy enough to do it. Maybe with a little pressure from Jerry to try and compete they would do it. 

Ron: I was pleasantly surprised to read that you would not be surprised if the WSox compete for the Division championship.  As it stands though, too many shortcomings in the pitching staff inc. no high leverage L or R arms and no Closer. Murakami's defense at 1B might be an issue. Meidroth might not single or walk enough to start him over Sosa, who was one of the best hitters on the team last year. Braden might come up and rake, or not. Robert or no Robert. Etc. 

As far as acclimating pitchers through bullpen appearances, OK, but in the Minors. There it could have value. Bringing a pitcher in a game in high leverage situations puts the microscope on what they can or can't do in crunch time, often against the best hitters. A starter can often get by after walking a lead-off man in an inning and then working out his control on the fastball or spin on off-speed pitches as the game progresses. Conversely, as we witnessed the last two seasons, bullpen guys came in , walked the first guy they faced, and then let hitters take advantage of their lack of control.  So let the Minor league pitchers prove what they have before they come up and f things up worse than they already are. 

 

[Timmy U]

22 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

I think moving guys like Aldrin Batista and Mathias LaCombe to relief roles in advance of R5 makes sense. Smith, Schultz and McDougal are basically their only hope for awhile at top of rotation arms. They must stay in rotation. 

I would throw Oppor into the top group for 2027. His stuff is such that, if it clicks in AA, he could come fast.