White Sox director of player development Paul Janish does not have an announcement on what affiliate 10th-overall pick Billy Carlson is going to play at, or if he'll see a full-season ball at all this year. That's not the stage the team is at yet with any of their four prep picks from last week's draft.
"They probably will lead individual paths," Janish said. "The schedule is going to be really up to them as they show us that they're ready for it."
The schedule is up to them in a figurative sense. Saturday marks the final day of introductory draft camp for the team's 23 new additions at the spring training complex in Arizona, where they have working out and getting acclimated to being White Sox employees. Next week begins bridge league action, which function sort of like minor league spring training games, played three times per week against other organizations on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
The game action that players will get into right away are played at a lower intensity. The statistics are not publicly documented and innings can be rolled to preserve pitch counts. There will be workouts, drills or simulated intrasquad games with coach or machine pitching in the days in between. Throughout, there's a lot of orientation, introduction to the organization and how it does things, and a huge emphasis on the strength and conditioning necessary to endure a pro season.
"Because of the timing of the draft, not all of them have been doing a ton in terms of actual baseball activity," Janish said. "High priority guys, they don't always do a bunch during the summer because the draft is coming and you don't want to compromise your status."
That provides an especially steep physical onramp for high school talent like Carlson, second-round pick Jaden Fauske, fourth-round pick Landon Hodge and 11th-rounder Matthew Boughton, some of whom have had their seasons over since May. While Janish said that Carlson's defensive athleticism, competitive spirit and raw power all jumped out in the initial days of camp, assessing any member of this group to be physically ready to play professional baseball six days per week is a bigger stretch than anyone is inclined to make at this point.
"He can physically hit the ball hard, he can hit the ball far, it's not going to be a physical issue of 'Can he?'" Janish said of his first days of watching Carlson. "From a durability standpoint, being able to endure the season playing every single day for 5½ months, I think that's going to be an adjustment like it would be for any high school kid. But super-encouraged by what we've seen this week. He's a very personable kid, he likes to communicate and talk, and all these guys are becoming pretty good buddies, which is fun to see."
Janish praised Hodge for being notably locked in and attentive during meetings, which bodes well for an athletic catching prospect. He praised Boughton for having unique physical upside, while echoing the prospect himself by saying the "weight room is going to be his best friend for these first couple of years" as he adds bulk, and thinks Fauske could be the most polished of the group as this juncture.
"Relative to a high school kid, he's going to defend himself very well, pretty quickly here," Janish said of Fauske. "Most of that has to do with even just the balance in the way he swings the bat; under control, efficient would be the best word. The ball comes off his bat and he hits the ball the other way very naturally. His contact points and some of that other stuff you pay attention to are really, really clean."
But playing in the bridge league for the entire draft year, leading straight into instructional league afterward, would match up with the path followed by Caleb Bonemer last summer, and should be the baseline expectation for this entire group until/unless one of them dominates enough to shift the conversation. In general, Janish downplayed the significance of new selections seeing draft year game action. Even the more polished college bats that do make it to Kannapolis are looking at 3-4 weeks of playing time, where the primary goal will be clarifying what the development plan will be for 2026.
As for those college bats, third-round pick Kyle Lodise and sixth-round pick Colby Shelton, shortstops who have already mashed against ACC and SEC pitching respectively, are expected to see action at full season affiliates this year. Janish said time at High-A Winston-Salem isn't out of the question for either this year, and if they wind up at the same affiliate, that will prime them for a life of moving around the infield to accommodate one another.
"Both of those guys have an ability to play short, so they will," Janish said. "Don't be surprised if you check box scores at some point down the road and they're playing third or second or whatever the case is, because I think it's something for both of those players, their profiles in general, it's beneficial for them to be as versatile as they can be."
From the pair of college outfielders the Sox nabbed in the later rounds, Janish expects 12th-round pick Ely Brown to play affiliated ball this season, but is doubtful about 17th-rounder Derek Cerda. While Cerda played college ball at Kansas, he is based out of the Dominican Republic and Janish said that visa issues are delaying his arrival. Rylan Galvan, a high makeup college catcher taken out of Texas in the 13th-round, would also seem like a good candidate to see full-season affiliate action.
College right-handers Gabe Davis (fifth round) and Blaine Wynk (eighth) were both sort of buy-low picks after injuries derailed their junior seasons, and as such are not expected to pitch in games this summer. Janish said both will throw pitching lab sessions at the complex to establish their biomechanical baselines, so as to build out their developmental goals.
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-- While there's not a specific return date set for Noah Schultz and his right knee issue, Janish said he is expected to pitch again this season. Schultz remains in Charlotte and will try to ramp up his throwing, and that the Sox didn't feel the need to bring him back to the complex in Arizona to rehab is reflective of the relative lack of severity.
-- The Sox don't want Hagen Smith capped at four innings for the rest of the season, and are hopeful they will be able to ramp him up to five or six-inning outings before the year is out. The former fifth-overall pick is at 40 innings for the year, and Janish said that getting more run in the Arizona Fall League is a potential option.
-- Last year's third-round pick, outfielder Nick McLain, has been limited to 13 games at Low-A Kannapolis this season due to a back injury, and is not expected to play again this year.
