ARLINGTON, Texas — Brian Bannister has been around a few impact left-handed arms.
And the Chicago White Sox senior adviser to pitching likes the makeup of the team’s 2024 first-round pick, left-hander Hagen Smith.
“I’ve had an opportunity to work with Chris Sale (in Boston) and Carlos Rodón (in San Francisco), who both had tremendous success with the White Sox,” Bannister said during a video conference Tuesday. “And when looking at our ballpark and the types of pitchers who play in our park, (Smith) fits the mold.
“You can see the success (Garrett) Crochet has had this year with the addition of the cutter and the reshaping of his arsenal. Kind of taking a leap forward to a No. 1-type starter in the league. We think Hagen has that type of ceiling and that type of stuff.”
The Sox came to terms Tuesday with 20 of their 21 draft picks, including Smith, the No. 5 selection from Arkansas. They drafted 11 pitchers: six right-handers and five lefties.
Bannister sees plenty of strengths with the organization’s new pitchers.
He said Smith has “a nice power fastball that misses bats. Unique approach angles. Ability to spin a breaking ball.”
“Just being able to get somebody of his caliber — fitting into our style we believe will play well in the 81 games we play in our ballpark — was huge for us,” Bannister said. “And knowing we can develop a pitcher like that and help him to reach his ceiling.”
Bannister said Blake Larson, chosen at No. 68 in competitive balance Round B, “took a big leap forward.”
“Another lefty that can pitch in the mid-90s,” Bannister said. “We thought there were seam effects on the fastball. The breaking-ball shape is almost a dead ringer for Chris Sale, so we like that aspect. It’s really hard to find lefties with premium breaking balls. I’m always looking for that.
“The combination of the hypermobility that he has, the ability to add mass over time, already showing the premium velocity for a lefty and, many scouts said, one of the better breaking balls in the entire draft, it was an exciting package to get.
“And being a northern, cold-weather kid (from Des Moines, Iowa) who switched down to IMG (Academy in Florida), there’s probably more in the tank on the physicality side that I’ll look forward to watching him add over the years.”
The Day 2 selections included right-handers Phil Fox of Pittsburgh, Aaron Combs of Tennessee and Jack Young of Iowa in Rounds 7-9.
On Day 3, the Sox selected right-hander Blake Shepardson in the 11th round out of the University of San Francisco. Bannister said Shepardson’s outings in the MLB draft league, in which he had 11 strikeouts and two walks in five scoreless relief appearances, were “really impressive.”
“Shepardson definitely has premium spin ability, spin talent,” Bannister said. “There’s elite tools, and like a lot of these pitchers that haven’t fully put it all together, sometimes they’re just pitching the wrong style or the grips are wrong and you start to clean some of that up and the walk rate tends to come down organically (Shepardson had 29 walks in 30 innings for San Francisco this season).
“He’s got some nice tools, and really pitching well in the draft league is what put it over the top with us as far as making the selection.”
The Day 3 pitching picks also included right-handers Pierce George of Alabama in the 13th round and Kentucky’s Mason Moore in the 15th and left-handers Justin Sinibaldi of Rutgers, Liam Paddack of Gonzaga and Nick Pinto of UC Irvine in Rounds 14, 18 and 19, respectively.
The Sox also drafted two-way player Lyle Miller-Green out of Austin Peay in the 17th round.
“The draft room was abuzz as we were watching him take BP and launch 475-foot homers,” Bannister said of the outfielder/right-hander. “The fact that he throws 94-95 mph on the mound, there’s some tools there. The raw athleticism and the fact that he’s not really listed at a position but is more pure bat and pure arm strength kind of gives us those raw ingredients we like to go out there and employ him in different ways.
“I’m sure as we get to know him, there’s a lot of ways for us to tap into his physicality and really take advantage of it. It’s a physical specimen of a person (6-foot-5, 235 pounds) and looking forward to being around him, watching his BP and seeing him throw off the mound.”
