Noah Schultz’s highschool is lower than 50 miles from Guaranteed Rate Field.
The left-hander from Oswego East now has one other reference to the Chicago White Sox after they chose him with the No. 26 choose within the Major League Baseball draft Sunday.
“My heart stopped,” he mentioned throughout a video convention name Sunday night time. “It’s always been a dream of mine to play in the major leagues. And being drafted by the hometown team. It’s just something that I’ve been looking forward to my entire life. It was surreal.”
The 6-foot-9 Schultz signed with Vanderbilt in November, however he mentioned: ”I’m on the Chicago White Sox now. It was a terrific college to be dedicated to and I cherished it, however I feel this chance is one thing I couldn’t go up and I’m excited to see what occurs sooner or later.”
He was ranked No. 49 in MLB.com’s record of the highest 200 draft prospects.
“Noah is a rare talent, and it was a bit unexpected to us that he would be available at pick No. 26,” Sox director of novice scouting Mike Shirley mentioned in a press release. “We couldn’t be extra enthusiastic about his future.
“He is a 6-foot-9, left-handed pitcher who moves very athletically. We believe Noah has a huge ceiling, can anchor a rotation down the road and will be part of something very special for the White Sox. His talent and character speak loudly today and we believe will be even louder in the future.”
Schultz mentioned his dad was a Los Angeles Dodgers fan and that was the workforce he all the time watched. He has made it to 2 Sox video games this season.
“But looking forward to going to a lot more and playing for them rather soon,” Schultz mentioned.
Perfect Game ranked Schultz, 18, because the No. 1 prospect in Illinois. He was the second Chicago-area highschool pitcher to be picked on this 12 months’s first spherical. The Atlanta Braves drafted Riverside-Brookfield right-hander Owen Murphy at No. 20.
A local of Aurora, Schultz has made six appearances with Illinois Valley within the Prospect League, going 1-0 with a 0.93 ERA. He has allowed two earned runs in 19⅓ innings with 37 strikeouts and simply eight hits allowed.
He mentioned he has a four-seam fastball, a slider and a changeup.
“Those are three pitches that I’ve been working on and very confident in all of them and excited to see how they can take off and become the best they can in the future,” Schultz mentioned.
According to the Sox, he missed most of his senior season at Oswego East due to sickness and inclement climate. Schultz mentioned he missed time with mono.
This is the second straight 12 months the Sox chosen a highschool participant with their first-round choose. Last 12 months, they drafted shortstop Colson Montgomery at No. 22.
Schultz is the primary highschool pitcher taken by the Sox within the first spherical since Kris Honel of Providence in 2001.
The Sox have the third-smallest bonus pool ($6,289,100) for use on the highest 10 rounds, based on MLB.com. The No. 26 choose is valued at $2,788,000.
Shirley mentioned throughout a video convention name Friday, “At the end of the day, the preference may be a pitcher, but that doesn’t mean if the right position player is available that we will not walk down that road.”
The Sox certainly went the pitching route.
“I didn’t ever picture myself being in this situation and now that it’s here, it’s truly a showing of all my hard work and everything paying off,” Schultz mentioned. “It’s something that I never could have imagined. It’s a dream to be able to play for the Chicago White Sox.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com