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White Sox A (Adv) player of August: OF Nolan Earley

By James Poellnitz

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Nolan Earley is an outfielder in the Chicago White Sox organization who has never really had high expectations around him. He was a 22nd round pick back in 2013 who has yet to play above the Class A Advanced level.

Before this season, his most extensive look came in rookie ball the year he was drafted. In 61 games, Earley hit .310/.410/.424. Injuries limited him to just 19 games the following year at Kannapolis (Low A).

This season, he was promoted to Winston-Salem (A Advanced) after just seven games with Kannapolis. After a slow start and limited playing time, Earley is now the everyday right fielder and entrenched into the bottom of the Dash’s batting order. He is coming off of an impressive month of August..

In 22 games last month, Earley hit .319/.364/.458 with one home run, 11 RBIs and eight runs scored.

His best game of the month came on August 9th in a 10-3 victory against the Salem Red Sox (Red Sox Class A Advanced affiliate). Earley went 3-4 with two doubles and a run scored.

Overall this season between Kannapolis and Winston-Salem, Earley is hitting .267/.344/.359 with two home runs, 37 RBIs and 30 runs scored. He also has 20 doubles and 36 walks in those 98 games.

Honorable mention

Adam Engel is one of the best athletes in the White Sox organization. Before 2015, he had stolen 70 bases in 159 games in the minors. His 147 strikeouts during that stretch and continuous drops in average with each promotion is what has him ranked as the organization’s 17th best prospect according to MLB.com.

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In his first 20 games this season at Winston-Salem, Engel looked like he was on his way to an impressive season. The next two months after, he took a huge step back struggling to make consistent contact.

While the strikeout totals remain high, Engel has been able to figure things out a bit at the plate and as a result, put together a solid August.

In 24 games last month, the speedy outfielder hit .273/.385/.477 with three home runs, six RBIs and 17 runs scored. Engel also walked 13 times and stole 16 bases in 17 attempts.

His best game in August came on the 29th in a 4-0 victory against the Frederick Keys (Orioles A Advanced affiliate). Engel went 3-4 with a home run to lead off the game, a stolen base, two RBIs and two runs scored. You can check out the homer in the video below.

For the year, Engel is hitting .257/.340/.377 with seven home runs, 42 RBIs, 89 runs and 65 stolen bases in 133 games. He leads Carolina League in runs, hits, strikeouts (127 of them) and has 29 more stolen bases than any other player. He is also in the top five in walks, triples and total bases.

Class A (Adv) player notes

Dash third baseman Trey Michalczewski didn’t have a particularly strong month of August but still is second in the Carolina League in both RBIs and doubles this season…. After hitting .295 with 30 RBIs in July, Keon Barnum hit just .217 with 11 RBIs in August. He along with second baseman Jake Peter will be playing in the Arizona Fall League.

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