Tanner McDougal had just walked home from Triple-A Charlotte’s game against the Durham Bulls on Friday when he got a call from team trainer Carson Wooten that he needed to come back to the ballpark. The White Sox‘ number four prospect was told something had gone wrong with his drug test from the previous night, which struck McDougal as a little odd.

Back at the stadium, McDougal was also surprised to see his teammate Hagen Smith there too. Apparently Smith had gotten a similar message from Wooten.

The truth, of course, was that the two of them were there so Charlotte manager Chad Pinder could break the news to the number two and four prospects in the White Sox system that they needed to head to Chicago.

“I think it’s one of the cooler ways to be told you’re going to big leagues, especially when you know it’s with somebody else and with somebody that you’ve kind of been day in and day out with the whole year,” McDougal said.

The two of them are needed because as the White Sox are navigating the dogs days of the baseball season, their pitching staff has been taxed, especially the bullpen. In Smith and McDougal, the reinforcements have arrived.

Given their high prospect rankings in the Sox system, the move to call them up has been anticipated for some time. But the decision to call up either of them, much less the pair together, has to balance their readiness in terms of player development with a point in the season when they can come up and contribute.

“Really excited about Hagen and Tanner coming,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Obviously they’re working out of the pen. Trying to find spots for them as far as good timing, making sure they’re in a good spot, and they are.”

The events of the last two days hastened the decision. First, the 13-inning slog in Boston on Thursday night took a toll on the Sox relievers, and manager Will Venable’s gaffe on Friday forced Noah Schultz out of the game after just one out in the first inning.

Schultz was optioned to Triple-A — along with David Sandlin — to make room on the big league roster for Smith and McDougal, and even without Friday’s early struggles, Schultz has looked due for a reset in the minors for some time.

Venable said the hope is to give Schultz time in Triple-A to work to work through some issues with his mechanics that have contributed to Schultz putting runners on base to the tune of a 1.423 WHIP.

“I think it really starts with the fastball. Just saw some of the velo not be there and not getting some of the performance on the fastball. That makes things tough,” Venable said. “You’re not getting the swings and misses, you’re not getting the quick outs with the fastball. You’re going to have to lean on some other stuff and you can’t get that in the zone. You get into trouble pretty quickly in this league. We’ve got to get the stuff to tick up and hopefully we can do that in Triple-A.”

Schultz’ absence opens a spot in the rotation, one that could be filled by Erick Fedde, but Venable said a decision on that won’t be made for another day or so. The White Sox rotation is otherwise in sturdy shape.

Neither Smith nor McDougal factored in Saturday’s 6-3 win over the Guardians. With the win, the Sox halted their losing streak at four games. They were swept in Boston and then dropped the series opener with Cleveland on Friday. Another loss would have put the division lead in reach for the Guardians in Sunday’s game.

But despite the team’s recent struggles, the White Sox still have their sights are still set on the postseason. The four straight losses they had reached was a season high, but Venable said before Saturday’s win that he wasn’t at a point where he thought rallying the troops for a special team meeting was necessary.

Key to the White Sox success this season has been the ability to keep losses from stacking up. They were the last team in baseball this season to have a losing streak run to four games. With 46 games left to play, the guys in the clubhouse aren’t quite watching the standings yet, but they can at least sense the importance of games like this weekend’s against Cleveland.

The excitement of jumping into a late-season playoff push is palpable with the rookie pitchers, and their presence could help galvanize a team that had been going through one of the toughest stretches of the season.

“It’s awesome. To go out there and compete it’s the biggest thing for me. Love going out there and compete and go out there and attack the hitters,” Smith said.

There isn’t much that can prepare a player — any player — for their first taste of the pressure of a division race and playoff experience. Only a few guys on the White Sox roster have been in the postseason in their careers.

Venable didn’t use either of his new arms in a close game with a significant impact on the division race on Saturday, but there will come a time in the next six weeks when Smith and McDougal are needed for important outs.

And then beyond that, either of the two — or both — pitchers could get the ball in a playoff game.

“I don’t see any problem. It excites me. That kind of stuff fires me up,” McDougal said. “I’ve pitched in the postseason the past years, so I get it. Obviously, it’s way different in the minor leagues, but at the same time, the game doesn’t change up here. I think you just got to attack hitters, not get starstruck on who’s in the box or who’s doing what. I think your job is to go out and get three or six or nine outs, however many outs you got to get, and that’s your job.

“So I don’t think there’s that big of a disconnect between that. But I’m excited to go out there and compete, and you know, hopefully help win a pennant back here.”