MLB's Top 5 starting pitching prospects on the cusp of breaking out

Which pitching prospects have the brightest futures and best shots at making an impact in the big leagues?

Jackson Jobe might have what it takes to be one of the best pitchers in all of baseball in the near future.
Jackson Jobe might have what it takes to be one of the best pitchers in all of baseball in the near future. | Duane Burleson/GettyImages
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5. Hagen Smith, Chicago White Sox

Rounding out my top five pitching prospects is Hagen Smith, the lone pitcher from the 2024 draft class. Smith was my favorite pitcher in last year's draft, and I still believe he is the best pitcher from that group. He was selected fifth overall by the White Sox out of the University of Arkansas, where he put up an all-time performance in his junior year.

In 16 starts and 84 innings, Smith posted a 2.04 ERA and a ridiculous 49.2 K% en route to an SEC Pitcher of the Year award.

After getting drafted, Smith got a quick taste of pro ball where he threw just 7.2 innings over three starts at High-A Winston Salem. The lack of professional experience to this point makes Smith a bit of a riskier pick here, but there's a whole lot to like about him based on his performance at the college level.

Like his teammate and fellow top pitching prospect Noah Schultz, Smith is a funky lefty with a deceptive delivery. While he doesn't stand in at 6'9", Smith is still a big bodied pitcher at 6'3", and it's his lower arm slot that makes him such a difficult at-bat.

His fastball sits anywhere from 94 to 97 mph, but with the lower release point paired with the vertical break on the pitch, it might as well be a triple-digit fastball. While that offering is electric, it's his slider that is his best pitch. It yielded a whiff rate as high as 75% during his final college campaign and is a nightmare for left-handed hitters.

He's also working on developing a splitter as his offspeed offering to help supplement his fastball and slider.

Smith probably comes with the most "reliever risk" among these five pitchers because of his lack of a third plus pitch (for now) and because of his control that still has a lot of room for improvement. He has also already been through a Tommy John surgery, so it's still unknown how his arm will adjust to a big league workload. Even if he ends up in the bullpen, though, he has the stuff to be an elite back-end reliever.

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