The White Sox had a really good draft that a lot of experts liked. They prioritized college bats that make contact and don’t strike out along with college pitchers that attack the strike zone. It seems that a few of these guys will be at least average major leaguers with the potential to be true stars in this league.
Let’s take a look at how they have fared in their minor league debuts to this point…
Round One: Jacob Gonzalez
So far Gonzalez has hit .245 for the Low-A Kannonballers. He has only played 13 games for them, but he hasn’t been overly impressive. His walk to strikeout ratio is good, so that is always a good sign. I would like to see him get on a nice streak to end the year so the Sox can comfortably start him in high-A next year.
You can definitely have a worse start to the season so this is solid for Gonzalez. He has played some very good defense to make up for the lack of flashy hitting, so it has been a solid debut nonetheless. The hitting will come very shortly and he will likely fight to be the shortstop of the future for the Sox.
Round Four: Calvin Harris
The White Sox have seemed to finally found a nice crop of minor league catchers with major league potential. Harris, who was teammates with Gonzalez at Ole Miss, has started out very nicely for the Cannon Ballers.
To this point, Harris is hitting .271 with one homerun and 12 RBIs. He also has a .371 OBP, so he has been getting on base in other ways as well.
This is a great debut for the fourth-rounder, and he could quickly rise through the system. He now has some completion in Lee and Quero for catcher of the future but, it is never a bad thing to have too much catching depth.
Eighth Round: Eddie Park
One of the more interesting picks of the draft, Park has also started off pretty well. He was one of the bats the Sox picked because of his bat-to-ball skills, and it has shown to this point.
Park is hitting .283 with four RBIS, eight walks, and five stolen bases. He could be a fast riser, as he makes great contact and has a very good .377 OBP. He could be the lefty, outfield version of Nick Madrigal, which is a nice thing to have in a well-balanced lineup.
He has great contact and speed, so he could rise up quickly through the system. I could see him being a very solid fourth outfielder in the major leagues at this point, with the ability to be an everyday player due to his contact skills.
The rest of the draft picks are either still at the rookie level ball in Arizona or haven’t played much for the Cannon Ballers yet. Regardless, it seems like this draft class has the opportunity to be one of the best Sox drafts in a long time.
