White Sox select Noah Schultz in first round of 2022 MLB draft

For the first time since 2001, the White Sox have selected a prep pitcher in the first round of the MLB draft.

For the first time since 2001, the White Sox have selected a Chicagoland product in the first round of the MLB draft.

Noah Schultz is following Kris Honel's footsteps in both regards, as White Sox used the 26th overall pick on the Oswego-East lefty tonight.

Honel was a righty selected out of Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox with the 16th overall pick back in 2001. After signing for $1.5 million, he ascended smoothly in his first couple pro seasons until shoulder and elbow problems derailed him at Birmingham. He pitched professionally through the 2011 season, including three years in the independent leagues, but he never could conquer Double-A.

So here comes Schultz, a 6-foot-9-inch, 225-pound lefty who had accomplished enough in the Illinois ranks to commit to Vanderbilt, and the leverage that affords a player in negotiations. The White Sox's first-round pick has a slot value of $2.788 million, and ESPN's Kiley McDaniel said he could be asking for $3 million or more.

What's his game?

The comparisons to Honel stop here, because Schultz's size and handedness limit him to fewer precedents. Multiple outlets raise the idea of Randy Johnson and Chris Sale because Schultz is a huge lefty who throws from a low three-quarters slot, but he has a shorter, more athletic and theoretically more repeatable delivery. The book on him is limited because he missed the spring season with mono, and then showed signs of rust upon his return, although Keith Law said he appeared to recovery fully from it.

His fastball already sits low-90s with a recent jump to hitting 98, and it's paired with a high-spin slider. He also throws a changeup, although it's the classic prep story where he hasn't had to develop it because he'd be doing high school hitters a favor by throwing one.

The concept is that if he can put it all together, he's somebody who is just about impossible for lefties to hit, and the unusual deception would make him a chore for righties as well. Like Sale, a future in the bullpen is easy to see as a floor, and perhaps a likely future, but Sale had proven the stamina to start in college. Schultz's endurance is more of an open-ended question.

Where does he rank?

• ESPN: 34
• Keith Law: 44
• MLB Pipeline: 49
• Baseball America: 51

What does he look like?

Any good anagrams?

No.