GLENDALE, Ariz. – Left-hander Noah Schultz tossed an efficient, eight-pitch scoreless inning, and lefty Hagen Smith struck out the side in his inning of work Wednesday, exactly what the White Sox wanted to see from their first-round picks in their Cactus League debuts at Camelback Ranch.
The 6-10 Schultz, who hit 98.4 mph with his sinker, did not strike out a batter and was helped by shortstop Jacob Amaya’s nice play to start a double play. Smith, a self-described perfectionist, was perturbed that he let a runner steal third base on him.
“The first at-bat I got down 2-0 [and allowed a leadoff single] and then the hitter stole third, that was just dumb,” said Smith, who yelled into his glove as he walked off the mound.
But Schultz and Smith were in decent spirits after. Like it or not, they’ve been attention getters in the rebuilding Sox’ camp, potentially two bright lights in the future of an organization that has endured 222 losses in the last two seasons.
The 21-year-olds born two weeks apart are being groomed in tandem for major league debuts, which could come this season.
“It was awesome, cool to see him come in after me, throwing fireballs,” said Schultz, who referred to Smith as his “little buddy.”
“It’s pretty cool [going through it together], being with him, so close in age and everything. 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.”
Burke at work
Manager Will Venable confirmed what was understood, that Martin Perez, Jonathan Cannon and Davis Martin are locked in for starting rotation spots. Sean Burke, allowed an unearned run in two innings as Wednesday’s starter against the Padres, has looked the part since his fine showing in September.
“We’re still evaluating all these guys, but Burke’s going to be a guy that we’re going to lean on and he’s going to be a big part of this,” Venable said.
Burke needed 40 pitches to get through his outing. He allowed one hit and one walk and struck out two. A fielding error by third baseman Miguel Vargas led to the run.
“Everything felt really smooth,” who touched 97.5 mph with his fastball. “That’s probably the best I’ve felt physically so far this spring.”
Burke seems reasonably confident about landing a spot in the rotation.
“I know if I’m able to go out there and be me, I’ll put myself in a good spot.”
Thorpe step by step
Drew Thorpe, the top prospect acquired in the trade with the Padres for Dylan Cease, would be in the rotation conversation but has thrown only fastballs and changeups on the side and won’t start on time as he comes back from a sore elbow.
Bryse Wilson, who pitched two scoreless innings Wednesday, is also in the mix. Seventeen pitchers made starts for the Sox last season.
“Yeah, that’s just how it goes in Major League Baseball, right?” Venable said. “You have to have starter depth and we’re going to have a lot of these guys stretched out and we know we’ll have to lean on them.”
Padres 3, Sox 1
The Sox are 0-5 in Cactus League games after a mixed-bag loss to the Padres at Camelback Ranch. Young pitchers Sean Burke, Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz were good on a day when the Sox had four errors and two hits. The Sox have 13 runs on 25 hits in five games, and have committed six errors.
· Mike Tauchman homered and Andrew Vaughn single for the Sox’ only hits. Tauchman joins Tim Elko, Dominic Fletcher, Corey Julks and Colson Montgomery on the Sox homer list.
· Catchers Korey Lee and Adam Hackenberg and third baseman Miguel Vargas and left fielder Adam Hackenberg were charged with errors. Vargas also misplayed a ground ball that went for a single.
· Venable, in his first year, has yet to walk through a postgame handshake line.
“Well, losing sucks, but these guys are working extremely hard,” Venable said before Wednesday’s game.
· On deck: Guardians at Sox, 2:05 p.m., Thursday, Glendale, CHSN