A pair of high-velocity pitchers drawing attention at White Sox camp
Checking in on White Sox camp, there hasn't been an abundance of good news. The Sox fell to 2-8 this spring with a 5-4 loss to the Athletics on Monday.
There have been some intriguing stories, though, and growing belief in the team's plan of collecting tall, intimidating pitchers. A couple high-velocity right-handers built some buzz over the weekend.
One of the more interesting White Sox prospects is Grant Taylor. He's thrown two scoreless innings so far and hit 100 mph in both appearances.
Taylor, 22, is drawing comparisons to former LSU teammate Paul Skenes, with one significant difference — Taylor hasn't been on the mound all that much. He played two seasons at LSU, missed 2023 due to Tommy John surgery and signed with the Sox after being drafted in the second round.
Once he got to Low A Kannapolis last year, Jackson found some success with 25 strikeouts and just 1 walk in 16 innings. But he went on the injured list July 23 with a lat issue and didn't return.
The White Sox are still thinking about him as a starter, but that velo might be useful in a short-inning relief role. His four-seam averaged 99.9 mph Saturday against Seattle.
Before camp began, general manager Chris Getz raved about Shane Smith, the first pick of the Rule 5 draft in December. Smith's first spring outing didn't go well, with 3 walks and 4 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings against Texas. He came back Saturday against Seattle with two perfect innings, 3 strikeouts and averaged 97.3 mph with his four-seam.
The Massachusetts native wasn't drafted out of Wake Forest, signed with the Brewers, and has been used in both a starting role and in the bullpen in the minor leagues. The White Sox plan to let him turn up the heat in a relief role. Smith threw 73% fastballs in those two innings against the Mariners.
As a Rule 5 draftee, the White Sox have to keep Smith on the major-league roster or else he goes on waivers. There are plenty of possibilities, but it seems like Smith and former starter Mike Clevinger could get the first opportunities in late-inning situations.
The Sox were also encouraged by two scoreless innings from right-hander Davis Martin on Sunday against the Dodgers. He faced pretty close to the 'A' lineup, striking out Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Max Muncy.
“There's no one better to really make sure you're ready to go than Shohei Ohtani,” Martin said, according to whitesox.com. “He's the best hitter in baseball. Just was prepared and made some good pitches, and got a good result.”
Martin, 28, was a 14th round draft pick in 2018 out of Texas Tech, made his big-league debut in 2022 and missed most of '23 with Tommy John surgery. He came back to make 10 major-league starts last year and the Sox are counting on him to be in the rotation.
Offense has been dry as the desert this spring, with the White Sox hitting just .204 as a team. One bright spot has been Luis Robert Jr., who is hitting .429 through six games. He and Mike Tauchman hit back-to-back home runs Monday against the Athletics.