With SoxFest on the horizon and a stalled free-agent market, fans will take any nugget of baseball news they can find. Baseball America released their top-100 prospect list on Monday morning and the White Sox boast five names on this roster.
The Top 💯https://t.co/TOg4NRT5BF
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) January 22, 2018
Surprisingly, other teams placed more prospects on B.A.’s top-100 but the White Sox graduated Yoan Moncada, Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to the big leagues last season and Shohei Ohtani’s swing to the States easily forced a few prospects down the list. Still, the names you expect to see on this list are there and a few others appear as well.
Eloy Jimenez — #4
This is not surprising to anyone. After joining the White Sox organization in the Jose Quintana trade with the Cubs, Jimenez rocketed through the minors and is poised to start at Double-A in 2018. Despite his swelling confidence and prognostications about his readiness for a big-league promotion, he’s still at least half a season away from debuting in Chicago.
Jimenez was No. 14 on B.A.’s 2016 top -100 and shot up the rankings based on a breakout year. He slaughtered Carolina-League pitching and held his pace at Double-A late in the season. But Jimenez couldn’t crack the top three because Ronald Acuna, Ohtani and Vladimer Guerrero Jr. edge him out in tools.
Michael Kopech — #11
Kopech is the most electrifying pitcher in the White Sox organization. He can blow the doors off any hitter and some scouts have said he could survive in the majors right now. Kopech features an upper-90s fastball and survived his first full season without incident or injury in 2017. He earned a late season promotion to Triple-A and barring a derailment of epic proportions, Kopech is likely to makes his major-league debut in 2018. Despite dominant stuff, Kopech has to show more command of all of his pitches and continue to learn how to use them.
Alec Hansen — #57
One of the most prolific facial expressions while pitching, Hansen was all but forgotten by the time draft day came around in 2016. He started the season as the feature arm for Oklahoma at the beginning of the season and fell out of favor quickly after control issues surfaced. Hansen is so tall and lanky that scouts probably questioned whether he could repeat his delivery. But 2017 was the season Hansen put those questions behind him. He lead the minors in strikeouts and put together several gems while demonstrating depth in his pitches. Most impressively, he never let the wheels fall off in any of his starts. Hansen is likely to start in Double-A, a major test for him on his quest to the majors.
Thank you to @MJ_Baumann (via The Catbird Speaks podcast) for introducing me to Alec Hansen's majestic pitch face. pic.twitter.com/303qzryJa1
— Michael Clair (@michaelsclair) May 1, 2017
Luis Robert — #58
You want tools, Robert has all of them. The only reason Robert is so far down this list is because he hadn’t played for almost a year after defecting from Cuba and hasn’t played a single game in the continental United States. Robert took his first trip to Arizona this past week for a minicamp and the video that surfaced on Instagram was impressive. There is some serious pop in his bat and his hands are electrifying. Robert will move up this list quickly given his tremendous set of tools.
Luis Robert 🔥 🔥 🔥 #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/KWlUnwEL8g
— South Side Update (@SSupdatepodcast) January 15, 2018
Dane Dunning — #82
Dunning has played second fiddle for most of his baseball life. At the University of Florida he was the swiss army knife of the pitching staff, covering spot starts as needed and dealing from the bullpen as his regular duties. Dunning was one of the lesser known pieces acquired from the Nationals in the Adam Eaton trade but he quickly made a name for himself with the White Sox fan base. More surgical than explosive, Dunning won’t light up a radar gun but he will expand the strike zone, confuse hitters with an array of pitches and showcase a fearless presence on the mound. With an arsenal of flame-throwing starters, Dunning will be an exciting contrast to watch in Chicago.
