Despite former Arkansas baseball great Andrew Benintendi’s best efforts, the 2024 Chicago White Sox are quickly approaching the wrong side of history as the worst MLB team in the modern era (since 1900).
Since tying the record for most losses in a single season, the White Sox managed to sweep the Los Angeles Angels, winning the first two games via game-winning hits by the 2015 Golden Spikes Award winner before capping it with Thursday’s 7-0 blowout. Chicago now sits at 39-120 and would need to end the year on a six-game winning streak to eclipse the 1962 New York Mets, an expansion team in their first season that holds the record at 40-120.
A Hog invasion is coming, though. The White Sox could conceivably have five different former Arkansas baseball players on the 40-man roster come this time next year. Best of Arkansas Sports sat down with James Fegan of the Sox Machine to get a deep dive into how the organization views each one.
Hagen Smith: Crown Jewel of the White Sox System
Hagen Smith was the crown jewel of the 2024 draft class and instantly slotted in as the third-best prospect in the system according to MLB.com. The White Sox wanted even more pitching help in their farm system despite already having a plethora of arms.
“They probably surprised people a little bit with pitching because their system is a bit pitching-heavy,” Fegan said of Chicago’s draft strategy this summer..
The White Sox have called up Jonathan Cannon, Ky Bush and Nick Nastrini to make their debuts this year. Smith and fellow left-hander Noah Schultz are projected to come down the pipeline.
One of the few questions surrounding Smith is whether his walk issues from 2023 are behind him. Smith trimmed his walk rate from 5.3 per nine innings to just 3.6 from 2023 to 2024. There are still lingering questions about his command, given that his percentage on in-zone strikes didn’t actually go up. However, the White Sox think that physical attributes should be able to overcome Smith’s spotty track record with command.
“They think the command is gonna be a lot better than maybe what it’s been based on statistical track record based on what they view as him being able to do physically,” Fegan said. “They see this dude as no longer tall, gangly and uncoordinated. He’s jacked, he’s filled out and he has a really compact motion and we think that’s going to allow him to pound the zone. He’s gonna have the stuff where he can challenge people in the zone (and) have more margin for error.”
Although it’s a small sample size, Smith has a 3.52 ERA in three appearances across 7 2/3 innings for the Winston Salem-Dash, the High-A affiliate for the White Sox. Regardless of how he does, there’s no rush for a promotion to the big leagues.
“I think based on the way they view him,” Fegan said. “If it’s all smooth talent-wise, he could be promotion-ready by the end of next year, with where they’re at organizationally, where you’re not expecting next year to be a contending year at all. I mean, they could win 30 more games next year and still lose 95.
Another Former Arkansas Pitcher
With the White Sox already having a handful of starters, another Razorback gave up starting in an attempt to jump-start his career. A move to the bullpen has turned Peyton Pallette into one of the more unhittable pitchers in the system after falling in the latest round of prospect rankings.
Since being taken out of the starter role on July 5, Pallette has allowed only five earned runs in 38.2 innings (1.16 ERA), including a run of 11 straight scoreless appearances.
“It seems like they saw some things in his mindset that he would just be comfortable being somebody who’s just out of the bullpen,” Fegan said. “Pitches like a mad dog and is trying to blow anyway and that’s gonna suit him well, and it really has.”
Given all the depth already on the farm system with starters and the fact that Pallete did both across his time as a Hog, any potential move back into the rotation is on hold. MLB Pipeline has Pallette’s arrival at the big leagues slated for sometime in 2026.
Update on Michael Turner
Michael Turner does not have impressive minor-league stats, hitting just .218 in 330 at-bats with just two homers in Double-A in 2024. However, the former Arkansas catcher still holds a key role within the organization.
Turner is being sent to the Arizona Fall League. That may seem insignificant, but established in 1992, it’s a place where U.S. prospects can play baseball without having to play foreign winter ball. Former Razorback and now Baltimore Oriole Heston Kjerstad won the 2022 MVP. Turner is being sent presumably to catch and work with some of the organization’s top pitching prospects including Pallette, Grant Taylor, Sean Burke, all arms that Turner will presumably catch that are ranked in the top 30 of the organization’s farm system according to MLB.com.
Despite being stuck behind a top-100 MLB prospect in Edgar Quero and newly drafted catcher Jackson Appel, there could be a narrow path to the big leagues, if the stars align. That path is similar to the one of Grant Koch, another former Razorback catcher who made his debut after 6 years in the minors and appeared in three games with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“They’re sending him to the Arizona Fall League,” Fegan said. “[That] speaks to maybe a level of comfort with him as far as operating with pitchers and of trusting him to be prepared. He could kind of slide into that triple-A catcher, depth role who winds up, sliding into a backup role as an injury or if he has a hot year in a really good hitter’s ballpark in Triple-A Charlotte that could boost the numbers a little bit.”
Other Pro Hogs Already in Chicago
Arkansas and White Sox fans alike will be relieved to hear Andrew Benintendi is finally turning the corner after struggling mightily for most of the past two seasons.
His OPS over the past 62 games is .835, which is 120 points better than the league average for 2024. He has also hit 13 of his 19 home runs since mid-July and is just one off his career high for a season, which he set in 2017 with the Boston Red Sox, with five games to go.
“He does think he’s figured out some things mechanically,” Fegan said. “That should help him be a bit more consistent going forward and he has hit for power in a way that we kind of anticipated he could in this ballpark, which is very favorable for left-handed hitters. You don’t have to kill it. You just have to kind of pull it pretty good and he can do that.”
Dominic Fletcher has been getting more playing time lately, but is still stuck between two positions. He has all the prowess to be a gold-glove caliber outfielder, but hitting just one home run in over 200 at-bats while occupying a position that is generally considered one that requires power is not a recipe to getting consistent starts.
“Can [Fletcher] get his offense to where he’s really great at getting on base against right-handed pitching and is a Gold Glove defender in a corner when they put him out there?” Fegan said. “I think that’s a harder line to walk, but also might be a bit more of a dynamic player in that role than he would be as a garden variety, solid, everyday center fielder.”
There are former Hogs everywhere you look on a team that is trying to put the MLB record for futility behind them. If any, or all five, of the players can produce at a level similar to how the Baum-Walker faithful remembers, the White Sox can slowly begin the long climb back from their soon-to-be label: “Worst Team Ever.”
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