Three of the Chicago White Sox Top 100 prospects have been invited to major league Spring Training.
The White Sox announced Thursday that 15 players from within the organization received non-roster invitations, including Braden Montgomery, Noah Schultz, and Hagen Smith.
According to MLB Pipeline, all three rank inside the league’s Top 100 prospects. Montgomery is ranked 36th, Schultz is ranked 49th, and Smith is ranked 72nd. While Spring Training will offer fans a glimpse of the future, all three prospects face long odds to make the Opening Day roster. That said, with pitching and outfield depth still areas of need, each player could carve out a path to Chicago with a strong showing in camp.
Noah Schultz
Schultz faces the longest odds of the trio. After a dominant 2024 season — one in which he held Single-A hitters to a .182 batting average before earning a promotion to Double-A Birmingham, where he posted a 1.48 ERA over 61 innings — Schultz took a modest step back last season.
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He opened the 2025 season in Double-A, posting a respectable 3.34 ERA over his first 12 starts before earning a promotion to Triple-A. However, after joining the Charlotte Knights, Schultz was limited to 16 1/3 innings across five starts and was tagged with a 9.34 ERA.
The Naperville native still possesses the tools to develop into a future ace. He boasts one of the deepest pitch mixes in the minor leagues, featuring a fastball that touches 99 mph, a groundball-heavy two-seamer, an upper-80s changeup, and a slider that moves in the opposite direction of his changeup.
Since being named Southern League Pitcher of the Year in 2024 after posting a 73-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio, Schultz has continued refining that arsenal. However, having yet to log 100 innings in a professional season, inserting him into the rotation — even as a fifth starter — would be premature.
Hagen Smith
Smith is in a similar boat. Like Schultz, he has the tools to move quickly through the system, but his 2025 season was marked by a dip in velocity and ongoing struggles with command.
On the surface, Smith’s 2025 season appeared successful. He logged 75 2/3 innings across 20 starts for Double-A Birmingham, posting a 3.57 ERA with 108 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .166 batting average.
However, his fastball velocity dipped by roughly 2 mph, and he frequently missed the strike zone. He also lost some bite on his slider, which too often stayed over the plate and failed to generate the chase swings he had previously relied on.
While Smith could certainly see action with the White Sox later in the season, his chances of being on the Opening Day roster are slim.
Braden Montgomery
Montgomery has the highest odds of breaking camp with the big league club, but will need to turn heads in camp to do it.
Chicago’s current outfield depth chart is a bit of a mess. It’s filled with former top-100 prospects like Jarred Kelenic and Everson Pereira, aging veterans such as Andrew Benintendi and Lemonte Wade Jr., and fringe players including Brooks Baldwin, whose defensive skills in the outfield leave a lot to be desired, Dustin Harris, who earned only a minor-league deal, and Derek Hill, who has posted a career .629 OPS over six MLB seasons.
However, Montgomery is not a clear answer to the problem at this point. He was sidelined for his first professional season after fracturing his ankle at Texas A&M in 2024. His 2025 season was then cut short after he fractured his right foot.
With just 121 games of pro-ball under his belt, it may be hard to justify throwing Montgomery in as the everyday right fielder. But his results were impressive last season. In 448 at-bats, he slashed .270/.360/.444 with 12 homers, 68 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases.
If he can show that he is healthy, Montgomery feels like he is on the cusp of making his big league debut this season. That said, the White Sox would be foolish to rush his development just to fill a need on a 2026 squad that isn’t expected to compete for postseason contention.
