The Chicago White Sox took left-handed pitcher Noah Schultz with their first-round selection in the 2022 Major League Baseball knowing that they would need pitching help in the near future. They didn’t stop with Schultz.
Instead of taking a position player, they chose to go pitcher once again and grabbed right-handed pitcher Peyton Pallette with the second-round pick (62nd).
Peyton hails from the University of Arkansas and is a four-year junior at the institution. He’s not as tall as the towering Schultz and comes in at six feet one inch. He weighs 180 pounds. Pallette was born on May 9th, 2001, and is a near brand new 21-year-old.
After checking Pallette out a little bit, it’s easy to see why the White Sox liked him so much and took him where they did.
The Chicago White Sox have a very good pitching prospect in Peyton Pallette.
His upside is solid but some will question him because he had Tommy John surgery that took place in January of this year. It’s hard to gauge just how well he’s done recently (because he hasn’t played in quite a while).
Before the surgery, Pallette was a top arm in the 2022 MLB Draft. He has skills that many pitchers will be jealous of but does have some room and a need to grow. He should be able to get what he needs in the minors and then be able to make a strong and positive impact in the Majors.
Some of the upside that Pallette possess includes having a good fastball which has been clocked in the near 100s at times.
With his fastball being his best pitch, his curveball comes in a close second and, like Schultz, gets a great spin rate on that curveball. That curveball has been recorded above 3,000 RPMs and has been recorded even higher than that at times.
In looking at some of the statistics that Pallette had during his career with the Razorbacks, remembering that he played just two seasons due to his Tommy John surgery, we can see some room for improvement. His overall ERA at Arkansas was 3.79 in 19 games with 11 starts.
His win-loss record was 1-2 and that percentage was .333%. He pitched 61.2 innings allowing 56 hits and 30 runs with 26 earned. He allowed just three home runs, 23 walks, and had 70 strikeouts. Pallette’s WHIP was 1.268.
Pallette is kind of a high-risk high-reward player. The risk is whether he will make it back, adequately from Tommy John surgery. If he doesn’t, then the White Sox will have made a mistake, the high-risk part will come into play, and the team will have used their second-round pick on a player that cannot perform.
Let’s hope that Pallette finds his way back from the surgery and continues to grow and develop into a fine pitching prospect that the White Sox can use at some point down the road.
They are going to need a lot of help and if Pallette can come back healthy and in good shape, they should be able to get what they want out of him.