Tyler Schweitzer, the next pitcher on this list, coincidentally was picked the round right before the last pitcher on this list, Eric Alder. Schweitzer was selected in the 5th round from Ball State, in Indiana. Schweitzer began his career at Ball State mainly as a reliever, but in his last year, he became a starter, tossing over 91 innings of 2.81 ERA ball. That season is what really put him on the map for a lot of major league scouts.
In his short minor-league career, Schweitzer has exclusively been a starter, continuing his trend from his last year at Ball State. This has been a great choice by the White Sox scouting department and minor league developmental team, as he looked very good starting.
He did not pitch for the White Sox in any affiliated leagues in 2022, so this season was his first pitching in professional baseball. He has started his minor-league career about as good as one can, as he pitched 107 innings, getting promoted in the later half of the summer to High-A Winston-Salem. That is a great start for the 5th rounder.
In Low-A Kannapolis, Schweitzer started 13 games, pitching 67 innings. In those innings, he gave up 62 hits and 21 walks. He struck out a very good 76 batters over that timeframe. He also held hitters to a pretty good .234 average. This is a very solid stat line for his first taste of minor-league baseball.
Once he was promoted to High-A Winston-Salem, he would start 10 games, tossing just under 40 innings. In those 40 innings, he would give up 32 hits and walk 24. He struck out 45 batters and held opponents to an even more impressive .215 average. This is very good for his second level in just his first professional season, especially for someone who wasn’t a first-round pick.
The best part about all of this is that Schweitzer is a lefty, which the White Sox desperately need in their rotation. They haven’t had a consistent lefty stud in their rotation since Chris Sale. (Carlos Rodon was only really good for just one season with the Sox.)
Schweitzer has a low 90s fastball, so he is not going to blow many people away. But, he still has some very good strikeout numbers, as he backs his fastball up with a good slider, curveball, and changeup. With his fastball being in the lower 90s, he will give up more hits, as indicated by his stats this season, but if he keeps those hits in the park, he will be completely fine. His performance this summer really showed he can get batters out and not give up a lot of runs.
Since Schweitzer was drafted as a college pitcher, he has the ability to move through the minors very quickly. He is really shaping up to be a part of a very good pitching draft class from the White Sox in 2022.
I would grade Schweitzer out as a B+ for this season, as he played very well at two different levels and showed that he belongs. Considering the inflated ERAs from a lot of the White Sox pitching prospects, his sub-4 ERA is refreshing to see and he’s not relying on just “pure stuff” instead, he knows how to pitch.
