Updated

Updated · MLB.com · Aug 10

Hagen Smith Wins MLB Debut With 2 Scoreless Innings as White Sox Beat Guardians 5-3

Updated

Updated · MLB.com · Aug 10

Hagen Smith Wins MLB Debut With 2 Scoreless Innings as White Sox Beat Guardians 5-3

Q: Despite walking four batters, Hagen Smith earned a bizarre debut victory; is this highly touted rookie truly ready for the major leagues?

Hagen Smith looks ready enough for a major-league look, but not yet polished enough to call him fully established. His debut was both encouraging and cautionary. In difficult circumstances — entering after a 2-hour, 23-minute rain delay with no normal pregame buildup — the 22-year-old still showed why he is so highly regarded. He struck out three in a scoreless first inning of work, including his first MLB strikeout, and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the next. The raw stuff clearly plays: his fastball sits in the mid-90s, and his slider is widely viewed as a swing-and-miss weapon. The concern is command, and Sunday reinforced that. Smith threw 48 pitches, only 25 for strikes, and walked four batters in two innings. That has been the defining issue in the minors as well. At Triple-A, he has piled up strikeouts at an elite rate — roughly 34.5 percent — but also carried a walk rate around 16 percent, an unusually high number for a starter. Scouts have long said the same thing: plus fastball, wipeout slider, inconsistent control, and an uncertain third pitch. That profile suggests he is ready to help in the majors now, especially in shorter outings, but may not yet be ready to handle a stable rotation role. Sunday did not prove he has conquered his biggest weakness. It did show that his stuff and poise are good enough to survive big-league hitters while he continues refining command.

3 articles · Updated · MLB.com · Aug 10

Two scoreless innings from Hagen Smith turned an unexpected call into a winning MLB debut after a 2-hour, 23-minute rain delay pushed the White Sox rookie into the game in the second.
48 pitches captured both sides of Smith’s outing: he struck out three in his first inning of work, then walked three to load the bases before escaping on a lineout with Cleveland leading 2-1.
A four-run third flipped the game, with Colson Montgomery’s three-run homer off Craig Yoho providing the decisive blow and snapping a 6-for-44 slump with 22 strikeouts.
The 5-3 win gave Chicago two straight after a four-game skid, kept the White Sox 3 1/2 games ahead of second-place Detroit in the AL Central, and pushed them past last year’s 61-win total with 45 games left.
Smith became the White Sox’s 14th major league debutant this season—the most in baseball—and the club’s 2024 No. 5 overall pick extended its run of first-rounders reaching the majors to 13 straight drafts through 2024.