Seth Keener, one of the first pitchers on this list from the 2023 draft, was a third-round pick out of Wake Forest. The White Sox seemed to have an emphasis on college players in this draft, as he was the third college selection they made out of three possible selections. It signals that the White Sox want to turn around their young talent pool fast, and drafting college players is the quickest way to do that.
At Wake Forest, Keener was both a reliever and a starter but found most of his success coming as a reliever. In his junior year at Wake Forest, he went 8-2 with a 2.69 ERA in just about 70 innings. He would make 8 starts in his 28 appearances. He would strike out 94 batters and have an ultra-impressive .8 WHIP.
Those impressive stats earned him a spot as a Baseball America Third Team All-American, NCBWA Third Team All-American, Third Team All-ACC, and a spot on Winston-Salem’s Regional All-Tournament Team. This impressive season is why he was picked in the third round by the White Sox.
Once he signed with the Sox, he would make his way to the Arizona Complex league, where he would appear in four games, starting two. In those games he would pitch 6 innings, giving up just one run. He struck out seven and had a fantastic .6 WHIP. This earned him a promotion to Kannapolis to end the year.
Once he got to Kannapolis, he struggled a bit, but it was an extremely small sample size. He would start three games for them, but would only pitch in 6.1 innings. He would give up five runs, again striking out seven batters. He only walked two, so he just got hit a bit harder than he would’ve liked. The strikeout numbers show he belongs and he will look to start fresh in 2024 and pick off where he was in rookie ball.
It is unclear what the White Sox want to do with Keener positionally, as he can be either a starter or a reliever. I am a believer that if someone can start, they should be given every opportunity to start, as starting pitchers are the most valuable position in the sport. He should be working in the offseason as a starter, especially considering the depth in the farm position. If he can’t start, he can transition to the bullpen which can still be very valuable for the team.
Scouts love his fastball and his slider, which MLB ranks both as above-average offerings, especially his slider. With a heavy two-pitch mix, that usually means coming out of the bullpen, but if he can show at a third pitch consistently, he can easily be a starter.
Seeing how the Sox utilize him will be very interesting and I hope they can get the most out of him, as he is very talented. Perhaps the overhaul of the front office will put people in place who can develop talent, unlike their predecessors.
