Noah

Schultz

The excitement is palpable for Chicago in the wake of top prospect Braden Montgomery’s electric debut and Schultz’s impending return would provide a spark to the rotation. The towering 22-year-old southpaw will need at least one additional bullpen session before heading out on a rehab assignment. He’s been on the shelf recovering from knee tendinitis since May 26.

Schultz is continuing to throw, but the team is not going to get him up on the mound until the soreness in his right knee subsides. The 22-year-old has been on the injured list since May 26th with right knee patellar tendinitis. Given that he was likely set to face some sort of innings restriction this season, we expect the White Sox to proceed cautiously with the left-hander in his recovery.

Schultz had some promising starts early on, but pitched to a 5.82 ERA in eight starts with 22 walks in 38 2/3 innings. He’d allowed 19 earned runs in his last four starts before being placed on the injured list, so perhaps his knee was bothering him at some point during that stretch. Should he get healthy again, he’ll be back on the monitor list in most leagues.

The rookie left-hander only struck out one in the outing and served up a two-run homer to Casey Schmitt. Schultz now carries a 5.82 ERA through his first eight big-league starts. Walks have been an issue, and none of his ERA estimators point to positive regression on the horizon. He’ll still look to get back on track when facing the Tigers at home next time out.

Schultz gave up a solo homer to Julio Rodriguez in the first inning, an RBI double to Randy Arozarena in the third, and was charged for a third run on a Josh Naylor single to score Arozarena in the sixth. The 22-year-old had his best control since being called up with no walks, and he was able to strike out six. It wasn’t his best outing in terms of run prevention, but an encouraging one that flashes his ability to miss bat at an elite level, at least potentially. He’ll take a 4.93 ERA into his scheduled start against the Giants in San Francisco on Sunday.

Schultz completely fell apart in the fourth inning here. He faced the minimum through three and seemed to put the blow-up in his last start behind him. Then, he walked three straight hitters to start the fourth and all three wound up coming around to score. He walked another hitter with one out in the fifth and Royals’ manager Matt Quatraro didn’t let him face Bobby Witt Jr. for a third time. Overall, he threw a first pitch strike to just six of the 19 hitters he faced and only threw half of his total pitches for strikes. It’s impossible to be effective with command that poor and it will be a tough call as to whether or not we can trust Schultz ahead of a two-start week against the Mariners and Giants.

Schultz walked four and settled for just three strikeouts even though he had 12 whiffs. In five starts since his callup, he’s sporting a 23/16 K/BB ratio in 25 innings, which isn’t going to cut it. Of course, he will get better, but he might spend a little more time in Triple-A before he establishes himself. For now, though, he should stay in the rotation and face the Royals next week.

Schultz walked three and generated just two strikeouts and six whiffs on 38 swings tonight, but he gave up only two hits and maintained the shutout by stranding Fernando Tatis Jr. after his one-out triple in the sixth. It makes Schultz 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA since getting the call. His control issues should catch up to him at some point, and it’ll be interesting to see how he fares next week against an Angels offense that’s currently fifth in the majors in walks.

Schultz struck out the side in the second inning, then allowed runners on second and third with no outs in the third inning before escaping the jam with two more strikeouts and a groundout. The Nationals would break through in the fourth, bringing in two runs on two walks and a hit. Schultz settled in for two more innings, ending his day after six on 85 pitches. He collected eight strikeouts on ten swinging strikes. While he’s impressed with his strikeout ability, the 22-year-old left-hander will need to manage the walk issue as he’s allowed four free passes in two of his three starts. Schultz lines up for a start against the Padres in San Diego on Friday.

That’s better. Schultz was shaky at best in his MLB debut, but had both his good stuff and command to pick up his first MLB victory. The 22-year-old’s only hit allowed was a solo homer by Darnell Hernaiz, and he issued just one walk while striking out six. There are going to be ups-and-downs in Schultz’s first season of MLB action, but this was a look at what could be. He gets a friendly matchup against the Nationals on Saturday.