How Noah Schultz Can Reach his full Ceiling
Given how great of a story that the Chicago White Sox are, the stories you can write are infinite. The youth movement that is sweeping the Southside of Chicago has been the best part and the amount of guys impacting the roster is in plenty. So much upside and so regarding for the faithful fans on that side of the city. However, there is one player that should be talked about more and in the sense of what the ceiling could be for the player. With how great the pitching staff has been to this point, Noah Schultz is a player that has the stuff to make him a legitimate front line starter.
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The lefty hurler for the White Sox is a tower of a human being. Standing 6’10 and weighting 240 pounds, he is a behemoth of a pitcher. You love to see it. The amount of power he can put behind his pitches is vicious. When you dive into his scouting report prior to his draft year, Schultz has the ceiling of a front line starter. He’s a very unique pitcher, with a combination of his size, arm slot, and pure stuff.
What you’ve seen this season is the potential that Schultz does have. It all starts with the pure stuff. When you sift through the entire starting rotation for the White Sox (minimum of 20 innings pitched), Schultz is among the best from a pure stuff standpoint. Overall, Schultz has a 98 Stuff+, trailing only Anthony Kay (105 Stuff+). Of the five pitches that Schultz throws, the only two that grade above 100 (which is average) is his cutter (104) and slider (114). Coming into his draft year, his slider was majestic weapon and had a 70 grade. It was his most devastating weapon and given his low three-quarters arm slot, it creates elite movement.
His slider acts more as a sweepy slider and has been very untouchable this season. It’s given up five hits this season and has a .167 batting average against and a .432 slugging against. Furthermore, it has a 32.4% whiff rate, making it his best swing and miss pitch. It plays very well off his four seam fastball that averages 95.4 MPH. Movement wise, it averages 14.5” of horizontal break and his sinker as well has some wicked movement. These are the good things that make him a really special talent. But, if he wants to truly hit a new gear and wants to elevate himself, command and control have to change.
When you go through his development since entering the White Sox system, control was never really an issue in the early stages. 2024 was solid work in that regard, having a walk rate of 6.7% between both High A and Double A. This ranked in the 73rd percentile. 2025 is where things took a turn, seeing his walk rate rise from 6.7% to 13.8% between Double A and Triple A. Schultz did battle injuries in 2025, particularly in his lower body. It affected his delivery and the mechanics were quite up to his typical self. He saw improvement overall in Charlotte to begin 2026, lowering the walk rate by 4.7%. He earned his call up to the bigs, especially when he was rocking a 38.6% strikeout rate. It’s a weapon.
Schultz has some of the most polarizing stuff. It really is a treat to watching him pitch and take the mound. But it also comes with frustration. The walks are still a problem, as he is averaging 5.44 BB/9 and his walk rate is at 14%. That’s good for fifth percentile.
The control isn’t there, but neither is the command. When it comes to Location+, which is command, Schultz has the lowest at 95. Same parameters at the Stuff+ mentioned above. A good example is his slider, which is the best by Stuff+, but lowest by Location+ (93). The rest of his stuff grades out right at average or slightly below. If Schultz could dial in the control and command his pitches more, the ceiling is sky high.
We’ve seen Schultz be a strikeout menace. He has the stuff, good swing and miss ability, and the velocity. It’s all about reeling it in. The White Sox have a bright present, but an even brighter future and Schultz is certainly part of that.