CHICAGO – The Chicago White Sox selected left-handed pitcher Hagen Smith from the University of Arkansas with their first pick (fifth overall) in tonight’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Smith, 20, is ranked by MLB.com as the No. 5 prospect in this year’s draft. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Smith went 9-2 with a 2.04 ERA (19 ER/84.0 IP), .144 (41-285) opponents average, 0.89 WHIP and 161 strikeouts over 16 starts with Arkansas this season. Smith led the country in strikeouts-per-9.0 IP (NCAA-record 17.25), opponents average and fewest hits per 9.0 IP (4.4). He set Razorbacks’ program records with 11 double-digit strikeout games in 2024 and 360 career strikeouts.
A native of Bullard, Texas, Smith was named National Pitcher of the Year by numerous outlets, including ABCA/Rawlings, the Collegiate Baseball Foundation and Perfect Game, and was a unanimous First Team All-American selection by Baseball America, D1Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. He was named Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year as a First Team All-SEC selection. He also was named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy in 2024.
“Hagen’s many accomplishments are incredibly impressive and certainly speak for themselves,” said Mike Shirley, White Sox director of amateur scouting. “Despite all of his success, I was struck most throughout the scouting process by his humility. We believe Hagen can be a foundational piece to what we are building in our organization in the years to come. We have something of a special history drafting and developing left-handed pitchers, and we envision Hagen being the latest in that line to deliver a powerful impact at the Major-League level.”
Smith helped guide Arkansas to a second-place finish in the SEC (four conference programs made the College World Series) and the No. 5 overall seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament in 2024. He matched the school record with 17 strikeouts on 78 pitches over 6.0 scoreless IP on February 23 vs. No. 7 Oregon State. Smith went 24-6 with a 3.40 ERA (88 ER/233.0 IP), four saves and 360 strikeouts (13.9 per 9.0 IP) in 54 games (42 starts) over three seasons (2022-24) with the Razorbacks.
Smith joins shortstop Jacob Gonzalez (15th overall in 2023), left-handed pitcher Noah Schultz (26th in 2022), shortstop Colson Montgomery (22nd in 2021), left-hander Garrett Crochet (11th in 2020) and first baseman Andrew Vaughn (third in 2019) as the White Sox most recent first-round selections.
Smith was recommended by White Sox area scout Dan Budreika and southwest supervisor Ryan Dorsey.
The White Sox have two selections (second round; 43rd pick overall and competitive balance round B; 68th overall) remaining tonight. Day two of the draft (rounds 3-10) begins tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. CT.
