Early Saturday morning brought news of a roster shakeup among the organization’s premier pitching prospects, with Hagen Smith and Tanner McDougal being promoted to Chicago, while fellow youngsters Noah Schultz and David Sandlin were optioned down to Triple-A Charlotte.
Multiple media outlets confirmed the transactions through White Sox team sources, following an initial report by Future Sox.
Though not the primary reason for these roster adjustments, the reinforcements arrive at an ideal moment for an exhausted Chicago bullpen. The pitching staff’s weariness reached a breaking point on Friday evening when manager Will Venable, unaware that Zach Bove had already made a mound visit just four batters in, walked out to speak with Schultz following a two-run single, which legally mandated the young lefty’s premature departure. Even though he threw only 23 pitches, Schultz is now unavailable for the upcoming four days. Meanwhile, Sandlin, who had accumulated only 18 ⅓ innings of work since June 26 due to minor physical issues, was forced to throw 96 pitches on Friday night in an unexpected long-relief effort to bail out the team after Schultz’s exit.
Both Smith, ranked as the White Sox’s second-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, and McDougal, who sits at number four, are traditional starters who have pitched in limited capacities during the 2026 campaign owing to health setbacks.
Smith dealt with a shoulder impingement that kept him on the injured list from the middle of June to the middle of July, though he has logged a stellar 1.43 ERA across six relief appearances for Charlotte since making his comeback.
McDougal faced a much more concerning health scare. The right-handed pitcher was seemingly on the fast track to a spot in the big league starting rotation before experiencing forearm tightness only a month into the season, sparking concerns that he might require another Tommy John surgery. While the hard-throwing righty returned to the mound in Charlotte a few weeks ahead of Smith, he has found less success, posting a 4.39 ERA in 12 relief outings since rejoining the active roster.
In retrospect, general manager Chris Getz provided a subtle hint about the upcoming moves during his Friday pregame media session, strongly implying that both pitchers would receive promotions before the campaign concluded.
“[Smith and McDougal] are performing strongly in relief,” Getz noted. “We expect them to contribute to the major league club at some juncture. The precise timing is uncertain, but their adjustment is progressing nicely.”
Unlike the tandem pitching strategy designated for Schultz and Sandlin—where Sandlin was scheduled to relieve Schultz midway through Friday’s game and finish it to protect a bullpen that used seven of its eight relievers during Thursday’s extra-inning defeat in Boston—neither Smith nor McDougal will be joining the starting rotation. With Erick Fedde expected to step back into his starting role after Luis Castillo temporarily displaced him, the two newly promoted arms are set to serve as high-velocity relievers, with their outings capped at a maximum of two innings.
Though no one in the front office or fan base expects Friday to mark Schultz’s final major league appearance, it would stand as a remarkably unfortunate ending if it were: recording only one out on 23 pitches, being charged with two earned runs, and getting mistakenly removed by his manager, who was so distracted by whether to challenge a play that he forgot he was taking his developing starter out of the matchup.
Following a difficult big-league debut on April 13, Schultz put together three consecutive dominant outings, securing his first pair of major league victories and prompting comparisons to Milwaukee’s dominant Jacob Misiorowski. However, Schultz subsequently fell into a season-long slide that he only temporarily broke during an August 1 bulk-relief performance in St. Petersburg, where he surrendered just one run over five frames. As he heads back to Charlotte to regroup, his major league stat line stands at a 3-9 record, a 6.06 ERA, a 1.423 WHIP, and a -0.4 WAR.
Sandlin, who was drafted in the 11th round as a late-round steal compared to Schultz’s first-round pedigree, has experienced comparable struggles over a shorter span, recording a 6.93 ERA, a 1.398 WHIP, and -0.4 WAR across five appearances (three starts). The right-handed pitcher has shown inconsistency during his rookie season, delivering two excellent starts roughly a month apart, and will now add to his travel miles as he returns to Charlotte for his third demotion of the season.
Since McDougal is already a member of the 40-man roster but Smith is not, the front office must execute a transaction to clear a spot on the full roster. This likely means a designation for assignment is coming for one of the Tylers (either Gilbert or Davis, who are both currently playing in Charlotte), though releasing outfielder Junior Perez remains another option. Alternatively, if Joey Bart’s fractured hand requires more recovery time than the originally projected one-month timeline, or if Chris Murphy’s left flexor strain requires surgical intervention, either individual could be moved to the 60-day injured list, allowing the team to accommodate Smith without exposing another player to waivers.
