Mike Shirley: Hagen Smith could be on fast track to big leagues for White Sox

The White Sox selected Arkansas left-hander Hagen Smith with the No. 5 overall pick in the first round of the MLB Draft on Sunday.

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00:00Back to Hagen-Smith, your first round pick, number five overall.

00:04Refresh off the All-Star Game, where we all saw Paul Skeens,

00:08one year after being drafted first overall, start the All-Star Game,

00:12which is a remarkable first time that's ever happened.

00:16People are saying Hagen-Smith could be in the rotation next season

00:20at the Major League level. How realistic is that?

00:24It's real. I mean, it's a real opportunity for the White Sox.

00:28Max is the guy that set the overall for a reason. It's dynamic.

00:32I mean, I was in Arlington the night he took Oregon State for that ride.

00:36Those strikeouts were real. It's the best college performance I've ever

00:40seen since I've been scouting. Now, there was a time in my young career

00:44I saw Max Scherzer and Joba Chamberlain match up. I think it was the best matchup

00:48I've ever seen on a college stage. Max was like a freshman

00:52in college and Joba was a little bit earlier, maybe a junior that year.

00:56In terms of the best individual performance I've ever seen, Hagen

01:00was real. He could have taken the Dodgers for a ride that night. How about the Yankees?

01:04It was so dynamic.

01:08It was the type of moment in your career where you're like, oh, that's different.

01:12Hagen comes with these special attributes that you believe because the fastball

01:16is so real, the heater is so real. Look what Garrett did in the All-Star Game

01:20last night himself. I mean, how dynamic Garrett's weapons are right now with

01:24the fastball and the cutter. Hagen's going to bring the same type of profile

01:28to the White Sox that can be expedited quickly. But you just want to make sure

01:32I know everybody's going to be in this push about rushing there. Is he majorly ready?

01:36The goal is the long-term play. He's a great piece for us. But he has

01:40the same tools like when we selected Garrett in 20. Hagen has the same

01:44piece of dynamic assets that we try to acquire on this

01:48run with power left-handed pitchers.

01:52We play in our ballpark. We're excited for Hagen. He's a great kid.