With the White Sox season set to begin in just one week, fans will have a lot to watch on the South Side this season. In addition to the influx of young talent on the Major League roster, the White Sox farm system is full of promising young players for fans to keep an eye on. While the official minor league rosters won’t be revealed for a couple weeks, we have started to learn more about where some top White Sox prospects will be starting the season. Here’s where fans can tune in to watch some White Sox top prospects this year.
OF Braden Montgomery: Double-A Birmingham
The top-ranked White Sox prospect on MLB Pipeline, Braden Montgomery turned in a strong debut season in 2025, posting an OPS of .804 across three minor league levels. Montgomery demonstrated the ability to hit to all fields and showed legitimate power, and had a strong showing this spring in big league camp. He’ll need to make more contact in the strike zone in order to take the next step in his development, but he should continue to move quickly and could debut in Chicago by midseason. For now though, fans will have to tune in to Birmingham to watch Montgomery play.
LHP Noah Schultz: Triple-A Charlotte
This time last year, Noah Schultz ranked as the top left-handed pitching prospect in all of baseball. 2025 was a speed bump for Schultz, who dealt with a lingering knee injury and couldn’t consistently find the strike zone when he was on the field. Schultz is healthy now and ready to re-establish himself as the top tier prospect he was a season ago. At 22, the White Sox will be patient with Schultz, and he’ll begin the year with Triple-A Charlotte, but manager Will Venable made it clear that the club envisions Schultz contributing in the big leagues this season. The key will be demonstrating that he’s healthy and reigning in the control that plagued him at times in 2025.
IF Caleb Bonemer: High-A Winston-Salem
The White Sox second-round pick in 2024, Bonemer became one of the fastest rising prospects in all of baseball after winning Carolina League MVP in his rookie season. Bonemer answered many of the questions about his swing and approach, and reached High-A at the age of 19. Now 20, he’s slated to begin the season at the same level after looking solid in an 11-game stretch at the end of the season. Should Bonemer repeat his success from 2025, he could easily become the top ranked prospect in the White Sox system by midseason. He won’t be in Chicago this year, but a strong season could help him reach the upper levels of the minors and put him in position to make his big league debut in 2027.
LHP Hagen Smith: Triple-A Charlotte
Lefty Hagen Smith didn’t have the 2025 season he or the White Sox envisioned when they made him the fifth overall pick in 2024. Smith struggled with his command at the Double-A level and his stuff lost steam until late in the season. After an offseason of mechanical adjustments, Smith put together a strong spring in big league camp, and he’ll start the season with a promotion to Triple-A. Like Schultz, Smith will have a tough task in a hitter-friendly environment, but if he shows he can get quality hitters out, his big league debut will come sooner rather than later. For now, Smith joins Schultz in heading up what should be a very fun Charlotte rotation.
Hagen Smith has the magic touch in the Double-A @BhamBarons Magic City unis 🪄
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 20, 2025
MLB's No. 92 prospect (@WhiteSox) strikes out 7 across 5 strong innings to increase his K rate to 34.1 percent: pic.twitter.com/p6miOXakuf
IF Billy Carlson and OF Jaden Fauske: Low-A Kannapolis
The White Sox top two picks from the 2025 draft, Carlson and Fauske will both make their organizational debuts in 2025 and will head to Kannapolis to begin the season. Carlson was in need of a swing rework, and the White Sox could’ve chosen to send him to Arizona, but the club evidently feels that he’s made enough progress to test him in affiliated ball. Both Carlson and Fauske will look to follow in Caleb Bonemer’s footsteps after a big breakout season in 2025, and either could shoot up prospect rankings with a strong showing early in the season. It’ll be a few years before either Carlson or Fauske reach Chicago, but both have the upside to be impact players at the big league level and should be watched closely as the season moves along.
Other likely prospect assignments include RHP Tanner McDougal and infielders Sam Antonacci and William Bergolla heading to Charlotte, and LHP Christian Oppor beginning in Winston-Salem.