Dream Comes True As White Sox Select Oswego's Schultz In MLB Draft

OSWEGO, IL — Noah Schultz had always carried dreams of playing professional baseball and so when the Chicago White Sox came calling on Sunday night, the reaction from the Oswego native was almost predictable.

Schultz, who recently graduated from Oswego East High School, was selected by the Sox with the 26th overall pick in the Major League Baseball amateur draft. Schultz, a 6-foot-9 left-handed pitcher, had committed to play college baseball at Vanderbilt University but announced Sunday that he will instead sign with the Sox after hearing his name called.

Although he had had conversations with Sox scouts during his high school career, Schultz admitted that actually hearing his name called in the first round of the draft was a game-changer.

“My heart stopped,” Schultz said of the moment he heard his name called in Sunday night’s draft. “Being drafted by the hometown team is just something I’ve been looking forward to my entire life. It was just surreal.”

Growing up in Oswego, Schultz said that he had strange baseball loyalties during his upbringing. His dad was a devoted fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, which he picked up as his team. Schultz missed the majority of his senior year at Oswego East due to illness. After making his debut in the season-opener this spring, Schultz was diagnosed with mononucleosis, which forced him to miss about seven weeks of the season, he said Sunday.

Still, he remained with the team and attended every practice and game, and tried to remain mentally focused for when he was cleared to return. He eventually returned to the mound as part of the collegiate summer prospect league — an experience Schultz called amazing and one of a kind.

“It was perfect because I missed so much time in high school and just being part of the team, being with all of the guys I love and being able to throw and getting ramped up (was amazing),” Schultz said in a Zoom call Sunday with reporters. “Throwing is what I love doing and just being able to be out there and help the team win was something I couldn’t have asked for.”

Schultz said that Vanderbilt was “a great school to be committed to” but that the opportunity to sign with the Sox was too much to pass up. Because of his height and lanky frame, Schultz said he has been compared to former Sox ace Chris Sale – a pitcher that one of the newest Sox players said he looked up to as an example of how successful a left-handed starter can be.

Schultz was ranked 49th on MLB.com’s list of its 200 draft prospects, which placed the lanky lefthander on the Sox’s radar. Schultz said he grew a foot between his eighth-grade year and his sophomore season at Oswego East, which caused some growing pains. He is still working on adding wait, but Sox officials said that Schultz’s height isn’t a serious concern.

“It’s a unique frame at 6-foot-9,” Sox director of amateur scouting Mike Shirley told reporters Sunday night. “He moves like he’s 6-foot. He moves easy in a big frame.

“He has unique skill sets. It’s an extreme talent who we think can anchor a rotation someday.”

Schultz comes from a line of athletes as his sister Emily pitches for Stanford University’s softball team while his other sister Ashley plays softball at Northwestern. Together, the three would play in competitive backyard Whiffle ball games and while he wouldn’t say who was the top athlete in the family, Schultz said they all have their own competitive spirits that they bring to their respective games.

Schultz said he never pictured himself being in this situation as a first-round pick but said that the reality of Sunday’s draft is a testament to his hard work and overcoming the adversity he did during his final year of high school.

“It’s nothing I could have ever imagined,” Schultz said. “It’s a dream to be able to play for the Chicago White Sox.”