Tanner McDougal is one of the lesser-known prospects on this list, but he is a young pitcher with tons of upside. McDougal was drafted in the 5th round in the 2021 draft and would play for the White Sox in the Arizona Complex league that same year. Unfortunately, just after 9 innings, McDougal would get injured and need Tommy John surgery that would make him miss the entire 2022 season. This was a tough blow for McDougal, as he was just drafted out of a Nevada high school.
2023 was then the first year that McDougal would play in the minor leagues and he pitched exclusively for the Low-A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. In his first full season coming back from TJ, the White Sox would limit the amount of innings pitched, as he only threw 70 innings. This is probably for the best, as you don’t want to rush someone back after surgery and potentially risk ruining their arm to the point where they are never the same.
But, in his return, McDougal looked good. Over those 70 innings, he would start 21 games, unfortunately with an 0-3 record. But wins aren’t really a pitcher stat, so that doesn’t tell the whole story. The actual pitching stats do tell the story, such as the 54 hits given up and the 43 walks. He would have a 4.15 ERA with a 1.4 WHIP and a .218 batting average against. He would add 80 strikeouts, which is more than one per inning.
These are very encouraging stats for someone coming off of Tommy John. While the walks were a bit of a problem, that is not abnormal for someone who is coming off of Tommy John surgery. Scouts have graded his control an issue, as they rank it below average, so if it continues into next year, it could be a problem. As long as he works towards improving his control, it shouldn’t be too much an an issue, as he doesn’t have an inflated ERA because of it.
He clearly has some great stuff as shown by the .218 batting average against and his 80 strikeouts in only 69.1 innings. MLB scouts have graded his fastball and curveball as above average offerings, while his slider is average, and his changeup is slightly below average. If he can improve his slider, he will have a great three pitch mix, which is enough to stick around as a starter. if it is only a two pitch mix, then he may be better profiled as a reliever. This next season will be the true test, as he will be one year further removed from the Tommy John surgery, so it will be more of a fair assessment as to where he is in his development.
Especially considering the circumstances, this was a very solid year for McDougal. It is likely that he will start the year in either Kannapolis or Winston-Salem. He will only be 21 once the season starts, so he still is very young and has plenty of time to develop. I would grade him as a B+, as the first season after Tommy John surgery is very tough, even more so when it is your first taste of minor league baseball. McDougal had to put in a lot of work to get to this point and had an impressive season.
