One of the best-producing players from this year’s draft class, Calvin Harris has had a heck of a start to his minor league career. After the White Sox took him in the fourth round, 116th overall, he was one of the first to make it to the minor leagues. This quick movement plus his hot start got him on the White Sox updated top 30 prospects list.
He didn’t wow in the Arizona rookie league, but just after four games they promoted him to Kannapolis, the A ball team for the Chicago White Sox.
In Kannapolis, Harris would have 108 at-bats over 30 games and would put up a very solid stat line. He hit .238, but he had a very nice .362 OBP. This shows that he has a great eye, and that is furthered by his 20 walks to only 23 strikeouts. If he can hover around that 1:1 ratio for walks to strikeouts, he will be very successful in his career.
His power did not show up in his limited time with the Cannon Ballers, as he just hit one in his 30 games. This is a far cry from the 12 home runs he hit in the 2023 college season for Ole Miss. He hit only 5 home runs combined in the two years prior, so maybe the 12 home runs this year were more of an outlier.
One thing that has been consistent throughout his career is his eye at the plate. In college, he has been on base a lot, mainly due to a lot of walks in addition to his .300 career average at Ole Miss. The walk-to-strikeout ratio even improved once he got to the minor leagues, so that is something to monitor.
In Kannapolis, he has spent the majority of his time behind the plate, which is a good sign. Good teams have catching depth, and the more the merrier for the White Sox, as that has been something that has absolutely killed them as of late and will be important moving forward.
MLB grades him as an average fielder, so that is something that he can build on as he progresses through the minors. An encouraging sign is that he threw out 22% of the runners that attempted to steal on him this year. While that is slightly below average, it is something that definitely can be built on as he works throughout the offseason.
I believe that he will be a fast riser for the White Sox, and as a college draft pick, he has a chance to be in the pros sooner rather than later. The only problem is that the once bare-catching prospect pool for the White Sox has now grown since the trade deadline. Harris is the first of three catchers in a row on this list and one of four in total. This doesn’t include Korey Lee, who has now graduated from the list. He will have plenty of competition as he works through the minors, but if he can maintain that high OBP, he will be in good shape.
Overall, I would give Harris a B to start his minor league career. Transitioning to the pros as a catcher is extremely difficult and he has proven that he can handle it. I could see him making the jump to AA next year and pushing for a roster spot in 2025.
