There's only one reason for White Sox fans to worry about prospect Noah Schultz

Chicago White Sox top prospect, left-handed pitcher Noah Schultz, has provided enough moments this season to be nervous about his development.

Schultz has been struggling with his command, and sometimes his stuff has not dominated minor league hitters like it did last season. However, Schultz has also had outings where he shows why he is MLB Pipeline's best left-handed pitching prospect in baseball.

Despite the inconsistency at Double-A Birmingham, the White Sox front office promoted Schultz to Triple-A Charlotte where the Knights play in a hitter-friendly ballpark.

Ultimately, it was just time to give him a new challenge. That is one of the reasons White Sox GM Chris Getz listed for moving Schultz up a level.

Schultz's debut for Charlotte did not go great. He allowed six runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings. His next start went even worse. Schultz lasted just two innings, allowing five runs on five hits while walking four batters.

But even with a rocky start in Charlotte, the only real reason for White Sox fans to worry about Schultz is if he continues issuing a lot of walks.

Control is everything for Noah Schultz

Getz recently pointed out that the White Sox are mainly focused on Schultz having control and limiting walks.

"He had a pretty good outing. Gave up some runs, but you look at the strikeout-to-walk ratio and the type of contact that was hit, it was a quality outing," Getz recently said. "We felt he was ready for the next challenge. He pitched well. But to get a guy to go up to Triple-A, for someone that's still fairly young in his development, is a feather in the cap to Noah Schultz and, certainly, the organization. We're going to continue to pitch him at the Triple-A level, and we'll see how the season finishes."

Rate Field is not the hitters ballpark that Truist Field is in Charlotte is, especially if the wind is blowing in. As long as Schultz is meeting the standard when it comes to control, he will be just fine.

His first start for the Knights was up to par. Schultz issued one walk and struck out five in 5.1 innings. Schultz issued four walks and hit the first batter he faced in his second outing for Charlotte, but there's some important context that gives fans a reason not to overreact.

Schultz is using new baseballs after being promoted. He is also still getting the important swings-and-misses.

Let's not forget that Schultz is 6-foot-10. As SoxMachine.com's James Fegan recently pointed out, that's a lot of length to try and keep in a repeatable delivery while trying to throw strikes. Baseball Prospectus once pointed out that the biomechanics of having such long limbs can make it hard to command a baseball.

Schultz was not having trouble last season commanding his arsenal when he was mowing Double-A hitters down, but back then he only pitched on Saturdays for four innings. This year, he is being asked to pitch deeper into games to build up his endurance for an MLB workload.

Schultz's 6-foot-10 frame and left-handed delivery often draws comparisons to Randy Johnson. It took the Big Unit until 1993 to start posting a WHIP under 1.20. Things turned out all right for him from there, winning five Cy Young awards and eventually getting voted into the Hall of Fame.

The organization is well aware of the potential biomechanics issues. They are constantly looking for solutions and remedies.

If Schultz continues to issue free passes regularly, then getting worried is totally valid. But if he keeps the walks to a minimum and occasionally gets hit around, then chalk it up to pitching in a hitter-friendly ballpark while being backed up defensively by career minor-leaguers.