The Chicago White Sox have the top two left-handed pitching prospects in baseball, according to MLB.com, in Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith.

“It’s a great honor to be ranked that high, but all that matters is what happens on the field,” Schultz said Friday afternoon at the Ramova Theatre. “So I’m getting ready to show that this year.”

Schultz and Smith will begin the spring showcasing their talents at major-league camp as two of the team’s 24 nonroster invitees. The Sox released their list ahead of SoxFest Live, the two-day fan festival in Bridgeport.

“It was cool to get that call,” Smith told the Tribune. “I hoped that I was going to get it, but you just never know. It’s going to be fun.”

The Sox selected Smith with the No. 5 pick in the 2024 draft out of Arkansas. He had a 3.52 ERA in three starts for Class A Winston-Salem. The 21-year-old struck out seven in 7 2/3 innings.

“It was really good for me just to get out there and get used to the pro ball lifestyle (and) meet some of the guys in the organization,” said Smith, ranked the No. 3 prospect in the organization by MLB.com.

Schultz, the top-rated prospect in the Sox system, had a 2.42 ERA in 23 starts between Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham. The 2022 first-round pick had 115 strikeouts in 88 1/3 innings. The organization stuck with a strategy of a maximum of four innings per start in 2024 for the Oswego East product.

“That was part of the plan, I was told that ahead of time,” Schultz said. “I knew that was the plan. This year, I’ll get a little longer in the games and I’m excited for it.”

Schultz, 21, called the invitation to big-league camp “an honor.”

“It’s an honor to be around the guys, the coaches on the big-league staff,” he said. “I’m definitely going to learn a lot from them and get ready for this year.

“I love asking questions and learning from guys and I’m excited to get there.”

General manager Chris Getz sees several benefits to the assignments for Schultz and Smith, who will both be participating in their first major-league camps.

“They are two pitchers that clearly are vital to the success of our organization,” Getz said Thursday. “We want to handle them appropriately. We talked about Noah and what some of our goals are in this upcoming season and mirroring more of a major-league schedule. Being around (recently signed veteran pitcher) Martín Pérez (in spring camp) and — outside of just pitchers — (like infielder) Josh Rojas (and) some guys that could really help these guys when the time is right to transition to the major-league level.”

Outfielder Braden Montgomery is one of the players acquired from Boston for Garrett Crochet who are nonroster invitees, as are catcher Kyle Teel and infielder Chase Meidroth.

“It means a lot to know that they believe in me, at least as much or close to how much I believe in myself,” Montgomery said. “So it’s awesome to get that opportunity to show them what I’m about.

“I’m just looking forward to waking up every day and getting to show everybody who I am.”

Montgomery is the No. 5 prospect in the organization, Teel is No. 2 and Meidroth is No. 13, according to MLB.com.

The list of nonroster invitees from within the organization also includes pitchers Mason Adams, Eric Adler, Peyton Pallette, Grant Taylor and Trey McGough, catchers Adam Hackenberg and Edgar Quero, infielders Tim Elko and Jacob Gonzalez (the team’s first-round pick in 2023) and outfielders Corey Julks and Wilfred Veras.

“Beyond just Hagen and Noah, we’ve got some others on the nonroster invite list (who) are here to be around some other major-league players, a peer group of prospects to start building a stronger rapport with our coaching staff, so when that time comes for them to come and help us at the major-league level, they’re comfortable,” Getz said.

“They can go in, they know what everyone looks like. They know perhaps some of their teaching cues. There’s a lot that goes into why we bring certain players to major-league camp.”

Additionally, the Sox signed pitchers Dan Altavilla, Justin Dunn and Jonathan Heasley, catcher Omar Narváez, infielders Bobby Dalbec, Andre Lipcius and Cal Mitchell and outfielder Nick Maton to minor-league deals with invitations to big-league camp.

Drew Thorpe injury update

The Sox said Thorpe is dealing with some “residual inflammation.” The right-handed starter is taking care of it with medication, with a short shutdown followed with a ramp-up.

Thorpe, acquired last year as part of the deal that sent starter Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres, had a 5.48 ERA in nine starts as a rookie before undergoing surgery in September related to a bone spur in his right elbow. From June 22-July 21, Thorpe went 3-0 with a 1.48 ERA in five starts.

The Sox also announced a trade Friday afternoon, sending pitcher Ron Marinaccio to the Padres in exchange for cash considerations. The Sox had designated Marinaccio for assignment on Tuesday while finalizing the Pérez signing. He had been claimed by the Sox off waivers from the New York Yankees in September.