White Sox select LHSP Hagen Smith in the first round of the 2024 draft (No. 5 overall)

Overwhelming power and ability to miss bats is the calling card of the top pitching prospect in the draft

With the fifth pick in the 2024 MLB draft, the team selected left-handed starter Hagen Smith out of the University of Arkansas.

Ranked as the top pitching prospect in the draft by MLB (and the No. 5 prospect overall), Smith was the SEC Pitcher of the Year. Being the best arm in the best baseball conference in the sport is no small thing.

Smith, 20, is coming off of his first pure starting season, as a Razorbacks junior. He went 9-2 over 16 starts and 84 innings for Arkansas in 2024, with a 2.04 ERA and 0.893 WHIP. He averaged nearly 5 1⁄3 innings per start, which makes sense given it being his first starting season. Another big plus for Smith is a rapidly-eroding ERA, falling from 4.66 to 3.64 to 2.04 over the course of his college career.

And his ability to miss bats — the one set of comments made by the MLB broadcasters before moving on to the next selection made dramatic mention of this — is stunning:

Smith had 17.25 K/9 in 2024.

Yes, 17.25!