The Rays capitalized on the nerves of a 6’10 mountain of a man, Noah Schultz, making his MLB debut. One of the biggest call-ups for a pitcher this decade for Chicago, Schultz had a major issue finding control with his first-ever big league pitches from the left side. However he put himself back together, conceding only one run after the first, digging through 4.1 innings, collecting four strikeouts while allowing four walks and three hits with three earned.
“He’s the future of the White Sox,” John Schriffen said on the broadcast as he walked into the dugout after the pitcher’s debut.
Schultz is easily one of the biggest pitching prospects in a long time for the Chicago White Sox. Listed as MLB’s 44th overall prospect, the towering lefty saw a rough 2025 due to a knee injury that saw him sink in rankings. This season in Charlotte, he came back with a vengeance that led him finally through the trail from the Knights to the Sox.
Reinforcements did not do what the White Sox had hoped, however, as a strong redemption in 3.1 after the first from Schultz was followed by Lucas Sims, who did not have the outing Chicago was hoping for to stay in it. Sims escaped a fifth with no damage, but struggled in the sixth, conceding two runs as Yandy Diaz and Nick Fortes both hit RBI singles.
Brandon Eisert followed him, and Johnny DeLuca and Ben Williamson shot gap-doubles to drive two more in. It concluded a stretch in which the Sox have now given up 14 runs in the past two days after a nine-game stretch with the best ERA in the league.
The Chicago offense has really struggled of late, but the returning bat of Everson Pereira drove home walks from Chase Meidroth and Munetaka Murakami. His three-run homer is technically his second homer in three days, as he has seemed to retain his power from his rehab game in Charlotte.
From that point, bats went silent for Chicago until it was too late. A two-run bomb from Murakami in the ninth snuck past the foul pole for his fifth homer of the season. A positive in the loss is that the White Sox have scored eleven runs in the past two days, which certainly is a reversal, as they scored less than that in the six games before Sunday’s win over Kansas City.
Miguel Vargas’s bat was silent again, but he did have a circus web gem out that was worthy of mentioning.
The White Sox look to force a rubber match tomorrow with Sean Burke on the mound. For the Rays, it’ll be old friend Jesse Scholtens. Tampa’s starter spent time in the big leagues in 2023 for the White Sox, lost the 2024 season due to injury, and threw for Charlotte a bit last season.
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Featured Image: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
