White Sox select Hagen Smith in first round of 2024 MLB draft

For all the talk about the White Sox seeking a position player with the No. 5 pick in the draft, when it was time for rubber to hit the road, Mike Shirley picked the best pitcher available in Arkansas lefty Hagen Smith.

The No. 6 draft prospect on the Sox Machine top 100, Smith was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year in 2024 after going 9-2 with a 2.04 ERA and 161 strikeouts against 34 walks over 84 innings for the Razorbacks, and he showcased his strikeout stuff against some of the draft’s best competition, as Josh noted:

In 2024, Hagen Smith faced Travis Bazzana, Jac Caglianone, and Braden Montgomery. All three went hitless against Smith, and Bazzana and Montgomery struck out three times. Smith’s performance against Oregon State on Feb. 23 was the best I saw from any pitcher this season, striking out 17 in six innings of work. A three-quarter delivery that musters a 97 MPH four-seam fastball and a lethal slider is how Smith managed to strike out more than 48 percent of the batters he faced in 2024. 

His season ended with a disappointing showing against Kansas State, as a pair of walks in the fifth inning opened the floodgates and put the Razorbacks behind the eight-ball in the Fayetteville Regional, but it didn’t cause his draft stock to sink. He was ranked in the top 10 of every draft board, and that’s exactly where he was selected.

The White Sox indeed possessed a lot of credible pitching prospect depth before drafting Smith, as he’ll slot in alongside Noah Schultz in top-100 lists, and Drew Thorpe and Jonathan Cannon among others in projected future White Sox rotations. This does improve the White Sox’s position in a post-Garrett Crochet world, assuming the Sox are able to turn him (and/or Erick Fedde) into position-player talent that this draft didn’t produce.

What’s Hagen Smith’s Game?

While Josh came up with a Robbie Ray comp, Smith’s power fastball/slider combo from a lower left-handed slot evokes visions of Chris Sale elsewhere. He sets up on the extreme first-base side of the rubber, and hides the ball to create unique angles and deception. He’s touched 100 mph with his fastball, and between that and his slider, a third pitch is often overthinking it against collegiate hitting. That likely won’t be the case in the majors, so he’s been working on a splitter (which could be a split-change) to offer something to right-handed hitters on the other side of the plate.

Smith holds his velocity deep into games, but the Kansas State start highlighted questions about his ability to maintain his command along with it. He also had Tommy John surgery as a high schooler, which are the two main knocks against him.

Where does Hagen Smith rank?

What does Hagen Smith look like?

Any good anagrams?

He generates a lot of his velocity out of those MEAN THIGHS.

2024 MLB Draft: The Top 10

Florida first baseman Jac Caglianone, the consensus White Sox draft pick according to mock drafts, ending up going one selection later to the Kansas City Royals, in case you’re wondering where the first second-guessing flashpoint could arise.

1. Cleveland Guardians: Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
2. Cincinnati Reds: Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest
3. Colorado Rockies: Charlie Condon, 3B/OF, Georgia
4. Oakland Athletics: Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
5. Chicago White Sox: Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas
6. Kansas City Royals: Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida
7. St. Louis Cardinals: JJ Wetherholt, SS, West Virginia
8. Los Angeles Angels: Christian Moore, 2B, Tennessee
9. Pittsburgh Pirates: Konnor Griffin, SS, Jackson Prep (Mississippi)
10. Washington Nationals: Seaver King, SS, Wake Forest

Hagen Smith meets Chicago media