Chicago White Sox Share Update On Injury To No. 2 Pitching Prospect

CHICAGO – General manager Chris Getz noticed Hagen Smith's velocity fluctuating in his last outing on May 10 with the Double-A Birmingham Barons.

The left-hander pitched two scoreless innings with zero hits, two walks and four strikeouts, his second shortest start of the season.

"He did have some soreness in his arm, in his elbow. We did MRI it, and there was nothing of concern at all," Getz said. "We compared it to where it was when we signed him. But he was feeling something, and it was showing in his velocity."

"We think it's related to his mechanics. We love the uptempo part of his delivery, but he's a guy that, on occasion, can rush out and forward. And he needs to stay back, he needs to stay over the rubber. That'll allow him to pound the strike zone more, less misses and put guys away. We're tackling that right now. We're thinking that's going to bode well for his overall health and production moving forward."

Smith, 23, is the No. 3 prospect in the White Sox organization and No. 30 in the MLB Pipeline rankings. The White Sox selected Smith fifth overall in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Arkansas, where he posted a 2.04 ERA with 161 strikeouts across 84 innings during the 2024 season.

Across seven starts in Double-A this season, Smith has 25.2 innings with 11 hits, six earned runs, 20 walks and 42 strikeouts. That's good for a 2.10 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP.

There's no specific timeline on Smith's return to throwing, but he appears to have avoided anything major.

"When it feels right. He hasn't thrown. We just wanted to make sure the soreness is gone, which it is gone," Getz said. "Now it's really diving into the biomechanics. He's going to start [playing catch] here in a couple days. We'll continue to build him back up and make some adjustments along the way."