With Spring Training underway, we are officially unveiling our 2024 preseason White Sox Top 30 prospects list! This season, we have more White Sox prospects to highlight than we have in a while, so this week we will break down every prospect you need to know about heading into the 2024 season.
Next up, here are the position players in the White Sox organization who weren’t able to crack the top 30, but are still names to keep an eye on throughout the 2024 season.
If you missed the Honorable Mention Pitchers, you can catch up here.
As a switch hitter who can play all over the field, Brooks Baldwin has a real shot at carving out a career as a utility man at the major league level. A 12th-round pick in 2022, Baldwin finished this past season at High-A Winston Salem with five home runs, eight stolen bases, and a 136 wRC+ in 113 plate appearances at that level. Already 23 years old, it is likely he will begin 2024 at Double-A Birmingham, where if he continues this success he could see himself in the majors sooner rather than later.
The White Sox signed Loidel Chapelli out of Cuba during the 2022 international signing period, and he raked in the Dominican Summer League. By the end of 46 games, he finished with a slash line of .344/.448/.636 along with eight homers.
Upon coming stateside in 2023, he jumped straight to High-A Winston Salem where his numbers took a bit of a dip, although remained solid. He finished the 2023 season with a .772 OPS and a 115 wRC+ and showcased a patient approach at the plate, yielding a 13.1% walk rate. Despite being primarily an outfielder in Cuba, Chapelli has made what appears to be a successful transition to second base.
Tim Elko quickly became a fan favorite in 2023, where he mashed 27 home runs across three minor league levels including Double-A. The 6’4″ 240 lbs first baseman is already 25, and his strikeout rate jumped to 35.8% after his promotion to the Double-A Barons. It remains to be seen if has just a fun minor-league story or if there is real MLB potential, though there is little question he has a lot of pop in his bat.
Making his professional debut in the Dominican Sumer League, Stiven Flores spent the majority of the season with a batting average north of .400. While it eventually dipped and landed at “only” .391 on the season, Flores showed a ton of promise at the plate.
Signed for $250,000 in the 2023 international signing period, Flores is viewed by scouts as a bat-first catching prospect with plenty of raw power from the right side of the plate. While that raw power hasn’t turned into in-game power quite yet, his bat-to-ball skills have been better than advertised with a high batting average and a minuscule strikeout rate that sat just under five %. Flores has drawn a fair share of walks, leading to an impressive overall profile at the plate.
Just 18 years old, Flores will have a chance to skyrocket up the rankings if he can keep this performance up when he makes his stateside debut.
Before the trade deadline acquisition of Edgar Quero, Hackenberg was in the discussion as the top-catching prospect in the White Sox organization. Despite being known more as a defensive first catcher, put up some rock-solid numbers at the Double-A level with an 11.6% walk rate and a 115 wRC+ in Birmingham, which was enough for the Sox to promote him to Triple-A Charlotte.
Behind the plate, Hackenberg is mobile and excels at blocking, and his receiving skills are solid. He also has a strong, accurate arm that keeps base runners in check.
He might never be a true starting catcher, but he has a chance to contribute at the MLB level as early as this season.
A fourth-round pick out of Ole Miss, Calvin Harris had a solid, if not spectacular, professional debut that ended with the Low-A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. A proven winner, he was a teammate of first-round pick Jacob Gonzalez at Ole Miss where they won the National Championship together.
Harris has a nice left-handed swing that can produce over-the-fence power, as proven by his 12 homers last year for Ole Miss in 54 games. He has also shown a patient approach at the plate, walking at nearly the same rate as he struck out.
His defense is considered fringe-average right now, with his pop time being his biggest flaw behind the plate.
Erick Hernandez was one of the White Sox’s big international signings in 2022 alongside Oscar Colas. He received early comparisons to Juan Soto, but he hasn’t come close to living up to those comparisons yet.
Hernandez was projected to be a plus hitter, however, he hit just .145 in the ACL last season and struck out in 34.6% of his at-bats. Just 19 years old, there’s a reason he commanded a $1 million signing bonus back in 2022, so it’s far too early to write him off. However, expectations should be tempered moving forward.
Wes Kath’s minor league trajectory took an unfortunate nosedive during the 2023 season. What was once seen as an exciting, high-upside use of a second-round pick has quickly turned into an extremely disappointing early career for the 22-year-old third baseman.
At the High-A level in 2023, Kath finished the season with a batting average south of .200 and a strikeout rate north of 40%. It was known when he was drafted that his hit tool would need to be developed, however, three years later and it just doesn’t look like any progress has been made. He is likely running out of time to turn his career trajectory around.
Judrick Profar
The younger brother of former top prospect and long-time Major Leaguer Jurickson Profar, Judrick signed with the White Sox for $600,000 during the 2024 international signing period. He is seen as a toolsy prospect who can be a threat at the plate and on the base paths. Despite being 6’3″, there is a belief that he can stick at shortstop.
Follow along as we continue to unveil the rest of the top 30 White Sox top prospects list throughout the week! Tomorrow, we begin revealing the top 30, starting with prospects in the 21-30 range.
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Featured Image: MLB.com
