Former Oswego East H.S. star Noah Schultz to make MLB debut with hometown White Sox
Former Oswego East High School standout Noah Schultz is getting ready to step on the mound for the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night for his Major League Baseball debut with his hometown team.
Schultz, ranked the No. 2 prospect in the White Sox organization, was their first-round draft pick in 2022.
His mother, Kim, said they got the call Saturday night that he'd be making his big league debut on Tuesday at Rate Field against the Tampa Bay Rays.
"I had the phone kind of to the side, and it kept buzzing," she said. "Noah had called the sisters. His sisters had texted me, 'Call Noah.' So he was pretty, pretty excited, for sure."
Noah, a 6'10" left-hander, played for Oswego East High School before being drafted No. 26 overall by the White Sox in 2022.
"We've just done this for 15 years, you know, and it really paid off, you know, physically, emotionally, financially," his mother said.
After he was drafted, Schultz signed a minor league contract with a $2.8 million signing bonus.
Kim Schultz said reaching this moment took years of sacrifice for a family of competitors, with Noah's older sisters playing collegiate softball for Northwestern and Stanford, and Noah pursuing his baseball dreams.
"Athletics really drives you down a path that there's some fun, but not as much. You know, there's no overnights on Friday, because you've got to go work out Saturday morning. You've got practice; really, no family vacation," she said.
Hundreds of family, friends and Oswego East community members are expected to be at Rate Field to watch Noah's debut, a moment his mother is eagerly bracing for.
"I'm sure I'll be emotional, but, yeah, it's going to be great," she said.
It's also a moment she has prepared her son for, offering him some words of advice for his big night.
"I mean, 'just relax, and you know what to do.' And, you know, once he gets that ball, he knows to just take care of business. And he really is a different person out there. You know, I see him as, you know, a little kindergartner next to me on the bench, going to the bus, but he's got this, I really believe it," she said.
Obviously, a lot of nerves come with an MLB debut, but Schultz seems like he has the makeup to handle it.
"For a young guy, he seems very much under control. You know, there's probably going to be a lot of emotions tonight for him, but expect him to be able to handle it. He's a very mature guy, and understands what this moment means, and, yeah, he's ready for it," manager Will Venable said.
Fellow Sox pitcher Sean Burke said he's been telling Schultz to enjoy the moment and not worry too much about how he'll do.
"It's another game, and he's a super-talented kid, so he should be good tonight. I'm excited to see what he's got," Burke said. "I know he's prepared for this, and he's excited for it."
Schultz's teammates feel the excitement ahead of the 22-year-old fireballer taking the mound for the first time in the majors. The southpaw is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings in his three starts in Triple-A Charlotte this season.
The White Sox aren't expecting Schultz to immediately be as dominant in the majors as he has been at Triple-A this season, but general manager Chris Getz isn't holding back on their high long-term expectations for Schultz.
"I want him to get out here and get comfortable and compete. He's got the stuff to be a frontline pitcher in this game. He's shown that. I mean, his fastball has been up to 98 miles an hour, he's commanding his slider, he's commanding all pitches," Getz said. "So, if he sticks to that game plan, and the stuff remains what it has been here recently, and what it's been in the past, he's going to have success."