South Siders unveil their vaunted southpaws

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith walked together from Camelback Ranch¡¯s stadium field to the White Sox facilities in the eighth inning of a 3-1 loss to the Padres on Wednesday afternoon.

Schultz, ranked by MLB Pipeline as baseball¡¯s No. 16 prospect overall, threw a scoreless fifth inning and needed just eight pitches, of which six were strikes. Smith, the No. 34 prospect, followed with a scoreless sixth and struck out three to strand a runner who reached third base with no outs.

They have thrown their sides and live batting practice sessions on the same days during camp. They talked in the bullpen Wednesday about their respective Cactus League debuts.

Has the theme of ¡°together¡± been hammered home enough at this point for the game¡¯s top two left-handed pitching prospects?

¡°It¡¯s pretty awesome, being with him, so close in age and everything,¡± said the 21-year-old Schulz, who¡¯s two weeks older than Smith. ¡°I don¡¯t have a brother; I have two sisters. But at least for the season, it¡¯s the closest thing I have to that. It¡¯s pretty cool, especially throwing on the same day. It¡¯s nice to be able to do everything and have a little buddy with me. It¡¯s pretty great. I couldn¡¯t ask for a better guy.¡±

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Said Smith: ¡°Great person, threw well today, really happy for him. I got to see a little of it; I was in the bullpen. I was trying to watch. It was awesome seeing him out there.¡±

Smith pitched in front of his father, stepmom, and uncle, while Schultz¡¯s dad, grandmother and grandfather were in attendance. Schultz also mentioned his travel ball coach for many years with the Cangelosi Sparks, Bill Copp, lives in the area and came to see him take the mound.

After going through his warmups in the fifth inning, Schultz fired a strike past Mike Brosseau. Two pitches later, Brosseau singled. He was quickly erased when Niko Goodrum grounded into a double play, with a great start from shortstop Jacob Amaya.

Mason McCoy flied out on a 2-1 pitch to end the brief appearance. Schultz topped out at 98.4 mph on his sinker, according to Statcast, and averaged 97.3 on the four sinkers he threw.

¡°At the end of the day, it¡¯s a team sport. The important thing is to put up a zero and help contribute to the team,¡± Schultz said. ¡°I feel like there¡¯s stuff to work on every time you step out on the mound. I¡¯m happy with today, but there¡¯s always something to improve on for the next time. Nobody¡¯s perfect. You get better every day.¡±

Said bench coach Walker McKinven: ¡°Watching Noah Schultz go about his business is an awesome thing to see. Then you go watch him throw baseballs, and you are like, ¡®Oh my gosh this is a very very impressive young player.¡¯ Really, really important player for us.¡±

McKinven heaped the same praise upon Smith, who has comported himself as a total pro in his first professional Spring Training. Smith fell behind at 2-0 against Forrest Wall to open his inning before giving up a single. A throwing error from left fielder Wilfred Veras sent Wall to second. It also set up a mini-prospect battle.

Leo De Vries, ranked No. 18 overall, struck out on four pitches, with Wall swiping third on the 0-2 offering. After a Gavin Sheets walk, Ethan Salas, the No. 33 prospect overall, struck out swinging on four pitches. Connor Joe then struck out to end the scoring threat.

A good showing, for certain. But Smith left the mound frustrated, yelling into his glove as he approached the dugout. Starting 2-0 on Wall and not making the proper play on the stolen base bothered him the most.

¡°That was just dumb,¡± Smith said of the stolen base, after throwing 13 of his 23 pitches for strikes and topping out at 98.2 mph on his four-searmer, per Statcast. ¡°I¡¯m a perfectionist. It went well, but I have to get out there next time and do better.¡±

The Cactus League debuts are out of the way, featuring a number of memories and even a few jitters. But there should be a number of more important accomplishments arriving soon for these talented lefties.

¡°I¡¯ve caught both of them, and they both have electric stuff,¡± catcher Kyle Teel said. ¡°My first time catching Noah, I was like, ¡®Dang, I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s going to be like to hit this guy.¡¯ I haven¡¯t faced him in lives, but I can¡¯t imagine it¡¯s a comfortable at-bat, being on the left side. And Hagen Smith, the first ball he threw to me was 99 mph, and I was like ¡®Wow, that¡¯s impressive.¡¯¡±

Said McKinven: ¡°Really, really impressive young people, in addition to being these crazy talented players. So I¡¯ve had a great time getting to know these guys and just observing them.¡±