Zack Collins was ranked as the ninth-best catching prospect in baseball. It shouldn’t be long until we see him in the majors.
Zack Collins was ranked the ninth-best catching prospect in baseball by MLBPipeline. It shouldn’t come as a surprise since he was also in the top 10 at the position last season. He continues to develop and hopefully, we’ll see the Chicago White Sox 2016 first round pick with the team in the near future. Scott Merkin wrote his focus is on defense and his swing during the offseason.
"“He just continues to work hard and find ways to get better. He looks athletic, looks lean, looks strong and ready to go. He’s been working really hard and fine-tuning his skill set.”–Chris Getz, White Sox Director of Player Development"
It will be up to Chris Getz and his staff to get him where he needs to be. Collins definitely has power, as illustrated by his 19 home runs and 53 RBIs. But his average wasn’t very good (.224) last season. You would like to see him hit for a better average but he also had a .370 on-base percentage. His left-handed bat would give the White Sox something they really need. It’s been awhile since this team had a legitimate threat from the left side.
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It’s clear his bat is up to snuff it’s just defense that may hold him back. Scouts had that concern when he was drafted. Some felt he wouldn’t play defense well enough to be a catcher. However, the White Sox haven’t given up hope he could be their future catcher. From the sounds of it, he’s not that far away. Just has some things to work out.
The major concern would be that his lack of defense would hinder his promotion to the majors. It seems though he is doing well enough where that may not be a problem. After all, he’s only 22 (He will turn 23 on Feb. 6). Because of his age, he still has plenty of time to develop. MLBPipeline has his ETA at 2019. That would put him with the team right around the time they should be competing.
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We should see Collins with the Sox in Spring Training then go to Double-A. If he’s going to stick at catcher it will be important for him to get regular playing time. If his defense is on par, maybe we can see him brought up midseason or at the end of 2018. Catcher is one of the most important positions. Because of that, it would make sense to get him a taste of the bigs prior to 2019, if that’s when he would be ready to be promoted.