15 hours ago, fathom said:

For me personally, Roch loses a ton of value if you don’t put him at SS. No doubt in my mind that Carlson ends up as trade bait.

That's ridiculous. 

Was Alex Bregman not valuable because he played 3B? 

Like Callis said, Carlson is a 80 grade defender at SS. It would be detrimental to the team not to play him, an 80 grade defender, at SS.

Edited March 9Mar 9 by Boopa1219

7 hours ago, Boopa1219 said:

That's ridiculous. 

Was Alex Bregman not valuable because he played 3B? 

Like Callis said, Carlson is a 80 grade defender at SS. It would be detrimental to the team not to play him, an 80 grade defender, at SS.

Carlson 100% depends on his bat, which has miles to go.  Penciling this dude into a starting position, and trying to move players around before he  has ever taken a MiLB AB, it nuts.  Let him simmer first and start to force his way into the picture.

9 hours ago, Boopa1219 said:

That's ridiculous. 

Was Alex Bregman not valuable because he played 3B? 

Like Callis said, Carlson is a 80 grade defender at SS. It would be detrimental to the team not to play him, an 80 grade defender, at SS.

Bregman was never going to be a GG caliber defender at SS.

7 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

Carlson 100% depends on his bat, which has miles to go.  Penciling this dude into a starting position, and trying to move players around before he  has ever taken a MiLB AB, it nuts.  Let him simmer first and start to force his way into the picture.

I'm not penciling him into anything but he is a valuable asset and like all first round picks, you hope he's a part of the team's future but my point stands, if the glove is as good as its being reported as, no one else should be at SS other than him.

5 hours ago, fathom said:

Bregman was never going to be a GG caliber defender at SS.

But Carlson projects to be and that's why he should be the SS if and when the time comes. Let's not do a stupid repeat of Jeter and A-Rod. 

39 minutes ago, Boopa1219 said:

I'm not penciling him into anything but he is a valuable asset and like all first round picks, you hope he's a part of the team's future but my point stands, if the glove is as good as its being reported as, no one else should be at SS other than him.

But Carlson projects to be and that's why he should be the SS if and when the time comes. Let's not do a stupid repeat of Jeter and A-Rod. 

How about first we get an Arod and Jeter, and then we worry about where to play them?

20 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

How about first we get an Arod and Jeter, and then we worry about where to play them?

https://www.newsweek.com/the-next-japanese-mlb-superstar-teruaki-sato-crushes-huge-hr-before-wbc-11596297

Don't think he will get $200 million but $125-150 seems quite possible with a repeat of 2025.

Depends on the Dodgers/Muncy too.

GG 3B can also play corner outfield.

2 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

How about first we get an Arod and Jeter, and then we worry about where to play them?

You know I'm not talking about star power.

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/top-10-mlb-farm-systems-152004557.html

White Sox named #6 farm system by this writer

11 hours ago, Boopa1219 said:

You know I'm not talking about star power.

Cool, then we have nothing to worry about until the 2030s.

 

Don't know Kanak as a prospect evaluator but like what he said.

Wild stat on Bergolla's spring: only 1 whiff on 38 swings in 33 big league camp ABs

Haven't seen this discussed much, but MiLB will be testing out a range of rule changes this season. The most notable:

• Rookie ball: Starting pitchers removed for pitch count (25+ in an inning) will be allowed to reenter the game in the following inning (like in ST, but limited to once).

• AAA: Check swing challenged are being trialed in the PCL and FCL, using the same 2 challenge pool as ABS challenges. They won't be in the International League where Charlotte plays yet. Umps are being instructed to make swing/no swing called based on a 45 degree angle threshold (which is much more generous to batters than what most people consider a "swing").

• AAA: PitchCom issues cost a mound visit now, and a clock violation when teams are out of visits.

• AAA: In the International League, second base is being moved about 9 inches in both directions towards first/third.

• AA: Pitchers only get one disengagement instead of two per PA. Between this and moving second in at Charlotte, Rikuu might steal 60+

• High A: Batters can only ask for time with runners on outside of extenuating circumstances (injury, equipment issue, getting brushed back off the plate by a pitch)

• Low A: Batters can't request time at all outside of extenuating circumstances

• All levels: Pitch clock no longer resets for catchers leaving their crouch to give defensive signals, and it's a violation if they aren't back in position with 9+ seconds on the clock.

The first one is a positive for development I think, but I don't love most of the rest. Curious to see how many of them stick.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/exclusive-mlb-to-implement-experimental-minor-league-rule-changes-for-2026/

Some make sense. Every hitter seems to get time out whenever he has 2 strikes. Then he scratches himself, adjusts his cap, gloves, taps his shoes, looks at the coach, scratches some more, while everybody has to stand and watch.

Love anything that minimizes down time. Don't understand the 2nd base thing

2 hours ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

Love anything that minimizes down time. Don't understand the 2nd base thing

I think a timer on time outs (which they are doing) is sufficient personally. Seems weird to let pitchers take a beat during an AB but not the batter.

As for moving second, It theoretically makes steals and tags easier for more "action"

Not going to lie, that AAA rotation might end up being better than the MLB one.

“We feel like the offensive floor is going to be better than what people think,” White Sox farm director Paul Janish said of Carlson. “He’s got a little bit more pop than what everyone expects him to have.”

Janish said the club has seen a spike in exit velocities for Carlson, 19, compared to when he first arrived in camp.

At the plate, Carlson has a narrow, upright stance with a high handset and a swing that can get stiff as he lunges at the ball at times. Throughout the spring, scouts have seen him go deep into at-bats, fouling off pitches until he sees one worth putting more oomph behind or takes the walk.

[...]

Joining Carlson in Low-A Kannapolis will be Jaden Fauske, Chicago’s second-round pick last year. The 19-year-old Illinois native, who grew up a White Sox fan, was one of the most impressive players in bridge and instructional leagues last year.

The White Sox previously did well drafting another prep hitter in the second round with Caleb Bonemer, a shortstop who ranked No. 27 in Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects to begin the year. While that would make for some lofty expectations for Fauske, he’s shown impressive stuff in his first go-around.

Fauske has a smooth swing, and his 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame has allowed him to keep up against pro pitching. Scouts say his angles tend to be average, as he is mainly focused on going gap-to-gap, but as he continues to develop, he has the potential to improve his launch numbers to produce more over-the-fence pop.

Awesome BA piece today on Statcast Standouts from our first weekend in AAA. They go into detail on McDougal, Smith, and Schultz.

Tanner McDougal, RHP, White Sox

The White Sox have three pitchers in the Top 100: Noah Schultz, Hagen Smith and McDougal. All three pitched during opening weekend, affording us the rare opportunity to explore which one has the best arsenal.

McDougal’s obvious calling card is his velocity, averaging 98 mph with average ride. If you’re new to these charts or this series, we draw a line that shows how much ride a fastball with that release and velocity would get. Four-seam fastballs derive almost all of their stuff value from either velocity or shape. An easy way to capture that is by looking at IVB above expected, which you’ll see a lot in this series.

If McDougal had just a 98 mph fastball with average shape, he wouldn’t be very noteworthy. Enter the curveball, his best pitch. It’s a monster 80 mph pitch with massive two-plane depth. The movement profile, release and spin rate is very close to that of Framber Valdez:

While not a perfect match, it’s remarkably similar in shape, velocity and release to one of the best curveballs in baseball.

It looks like there are also two slider shapes, one being a sweeper and the other a deathball slider. We’ll need more data to see if that’s intentional, or if he’s struggling with the execution. He also flashed a few changeups, which aren’t shown in the chart. Developing a viable changeup or splitter will be key for McDougal’s chances of sticking as a starter. The fallback is a high-leverage option throwing 100 with a plus-plus curveball.

Hagen Smith, LHP, White Sox

Smith features a 96 mph fastball with above-average life from a low, wide release point. That’s the general recipe for throwing a deceptive fastball. Of the 24 fastballs he threw, he generated eight whiffs on 14 swings. While Smith is unlikely to post gaudy whiff numbers like that every game, it should be a fantastic bread-and-butter pitch for him.

His deathball slider is thrown with almost pure side spin, similar to a sweeper. It has the unusual property of getting seam-shifted wake drop, potentially adding to its deception. Sweepers typically are lifted by seam effects, so this a unique pitch. We’ll need to see this repeated over multiple starts to have confidence that it’s not a data collection error.

Smith threw one changeup, which has all the makings of a great pitch stuff-wise. It came out of the hand with the same spin axis as the fastball, with massive seam-shifted wake drop and ideal velocity separation. This pitch will be key for him to turn lineups over multiple times. He ties it all together with a bridge cutter.

The fastball/slider combo is likely good enough to compete in the majors right now, but he’ll need some time to work on the changeup and cutter, especially in game situations.

Noah Schultz, LHP, White Sox

Schultz pitched in Triple-A last year, so we can take a deeper look at the changes he’s made over the offseason.

The biggest change is easy to spot: Schultz is throwing his cutter a lot more and has changed the way he throws it. He’s now throwing it with almost pure backspin—very similar to Smith’s spin—and you can count the five whiffs he got with the pitch. For a pitcher with extreme east/west movement, the cutter is absolutely essential as a platoon-neutral pitch that masks the movement profiles of the rest of the arsenal. This might be Schultz’s best pitch and the key to his success.

Schultz’s velocity is up about 1.5-2 mph compared to the end of last season, allowing his sinker to tick up into above-average territory. Ideally, he’d want to get more depth on the sinker. The fastball is mostly deployed to righties, where he’ll struggle a little bit more. His changeup has ideal velocity separation and tunnels reasonably well with the sinker. East/west pitchers of this archetype usually get more seam-shifted wake movement. Schultz gets a reasonable amount, but not quite as much as you’d expect.

Schultz’s sweeper is a potential monster at 2,900 rpm and 16 inches of sweep. It’s not a fully-optimized pitch yet, but it still grades out as plus or better from a stuff perspective.

Let’s circle back to our original question: Which of this White Sox trio has the best arsenal?

The answer is complicated. The pitcher who looks to have the highest probability of being a long-term starter is Smith. His fastball/slider combo is good enough already. The pitcher with the best swing-and-miss pitch of the three is probably McDougal and his curveball. Schultz is an extreme east/west pitcher, a profile that’s difficult to unlock as a starter, especially from the left side. However, his new cutter and velocity potential as he grows and matures into his gigantic frame might give him the highest upside of them all.

If forced to pick, this author would likely rank them Smith, McDougal, Schultz. However, that might change as more data comes in over the course of the season.

Edited Monday at 05:37 PM4 days by DirtySox

22 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

Awesome BA piece today on Statcast Standouts from our first weekend in AAA. They go into detail on McDougal, Smith, and Schultz.

That's a great read. Interesting especially for McDougal.

Lots of last year's draft class debuting in Kanny, including Carlson and Fauske.

On 3/30/2026 at 12:36 PM, DirtySox said:

Awesome BA piece today on Statcast Standouts from our first weekend in AAA. They go into detail on McDougal, Smith, and Schultz.

FWIW, Davitt also got a mention:

If you’re looking for signs that the White Sox player development team has leveled up, Davitt might be the strongest signal. Here’s what his arsenal looked like last September: We see a fringy fastball, nice sweeper, solid change, good slider and fringy curveball. Five distinct shapes, but nothing that would really suggest he had what it took to pitch at the highest level.

This is how he looked in his first start of the year: The fastball velocity ticked up, and gained 1.9 inches of vertical ride, pushing it closer to league average in terms of stuff. The biggest change was to the changeup, with which he’s now getting far more depth. The spin rate and direction data suggest this is a new grip for him. It now looks like a true swing-and-miss weapon that he appears more confident in, throwing it 18% of the time. These improvements may not be enough on their own, but they raise Davitt’s chances of cracking the rotation should the opportunity arrive.