White Sox MiLB Report: 3 Prospects That Are Off to Good Starts
There are a few White Sox prospects that are off to good starts for their respective teams. Which prospect will make their MLB debut this season?
The current White Sox rebuild has fans on both sides of the fence. There are fans that believe the rebuild is a complete failure at the moment as the team has yet to come close to having a winning record. There are other fans who remain optimistic that the Sox will become contenders sooner rather than later.
With players who were once top prospects in the Sox farm system now having success at the major league level, there’s a new wave of current prospects that are making a name for themselves to start the season. Eloy Jimenez could have been in this upcoming list but he’s starting to find his groove at the plate in his rookie season of MLB after receiving a contract extension during spring training.
The players that are off to good starts in the minors however, should be on the major league team over the next few years. There will be more top prospects that will make their major league debuts over the coming years and some of those prospects are very close to realizing their dreams. The White Sox did a good job of replenishing a poor farm system with quality prospects through trades and good drafting.
As the season progresses, there are going to be chatter from fans to promote any player that is having any kind of success in the minors. The Sox will likely remain patient in their handling of promoting prospects as they’ve done throughout this rebuild. While fans continue to anticipate the next arrival of a top prospect, let’s take a look at the prospects that are currently off to a good start to begin this season.
Dylan Cease
The other player included in the now infamous crosstown trade between the White Sox and Cubs in 2017 that included Jimenez was Dylan Cease. Cease was the Cubs top-ranked pitching prospect at the time and joined a Sox farm system that was already loaded with starting pitching depth.
In his first full season in the White Sox farm system in 2018, Cease finished with a combined 12-2 record and a 2.40 ERA through 124 innings pitched. He compiled these stats through 13 total starts with High-A Winston-Salem and 10 starts with Double-A Birmingham.
To start this season with Triple-A Charlotte, Cease has pitched a total of 10 innings in two starts and has yet to allow an earned run. On Sunday in Indianapolis, Cease pitched five innings while recording four strikeouts and allowing one walk. With the White Sox starting pitching recently struggling, if Cease continues to perform well, he could be knocking on the door for a promotion soon.
Cease will likely be promoted at some point this season. The White Sox don’t have to rush him to the majors as they have enough depth in their starting rotation at the moment. However, if any of their starters continue to struggle and Cease is dominating Triple-A, it will be hard for the Sox to keep the 23-year-old pitcher in the minors much longer.
Luis Robert
Luis Robert came to the White Sox with a lot of fanfare in 2017. After the franchise spent the money to sign him as an International free agent, expectations for Robert has been high. Unfortunately, Robert hasn’t lived up to those expectations just yet.
This has been due to Robert’s inability to remain healthy. Robert has yet to play a full season in the minors and has only played 87 total games as of Sunday. He hasn’t been able to showcase his true potential for a lengthy amount of time. Despite his past injuries, Robert has gotten off to one of the hottest starts for any White Sox prospect this season.
Through nine games with Winston-Salem, Robert owns an impressive .475/.512/1.025 slash line with five home runs, three doubles, two triples, three stolen bases, 15 RBIs and a 1.537 OPS. Clearly, Robert is no match for High-A pitching right now. But his past injury history will likely keep him with the Dash for the remainder of this month.
If Robert can continue to dominate High-A pitching, he will get promoted to Double-A by May. It will be interesting to see how the White Sox handle his promotion as there are many Sox outfield prospects already with the Barons. Hopefully, Robert can remain healthy throughout this season as it shouldn’t surprise anyone if he ends the year with the Knights.
Nick Madrigal
Nick Madrigal helped lead the Oregon State University Beavers to a College World Series championship last year. He would be a part of another postseason team when he ended the 2018 season with Winston-Salem as they reached the playoffs. Madrigal had a solid first season in the White Sox farm system.
In 43 total games last season, Madrigal had a .303/.353/.348 slash line with seven doubles and 16 RBIs. Madrigal won’t hit for much power in the majors but his ability to get on base will be an asset for the Sox in the future. This season after going hitless in his first two games for the Dash, Madrigal has been hot at the plate recently.
On Friday, Madrigal went 4-for-4 at the plate with one double and two RBIs. Through eight games with Winston-Salem, Madrigal has a .303 batting average with one double, one triple, two stolen bases, and nine RBIs. Along with Robert at the top of the Dash lineup, Madrigal is likely to be no match for High-A pitching if he continues to perform well to start this season.
Next. Tim Anderson's Grand Slams Propels White Sox. dark
Madrigal could also end this season in Triple-A similar to Robert. All of the aforementioned prospects will see a promotion or two to the next level at some point. The Sox have a good luxury right now in not needing to rush any promotions that could ultimately stall a player’s development. Sox fans won’t have to wait too long, however, as each of these prospects will be with the team no later than the start of next season.