The Chicago White Sox have drafted lots of players through the years, but is Steve Trout the best one from sweet home Chicago?
The Chicago White Sox have drafted some great players over the years. They aren’t perfect in the draft all time, but they have had some good ones. With the 2020 MLB Draft coming up here shortly, it is fun to reminisce on old picks that worked out for the organization. Well, who is the best local boy that the White Sox ever drafted? According to MLB dot com, it is Steve Trout.
He was drafted in the first round (eighth overall) of the 1976 MLB Draft. It was a good pick for the White Sox because Trout was a great pitcher for them for parts of five years. Beyond that, he had himself a really nice MLB career that spanned from 1978 to 1989. He would go play for parts of five seasons the other Chicago team on the north side after his time with the White Sox. They traded him to the New York Yankees in the fifth year and then he closed his career out with two years on the Seattle Mariners.
Trout attended Thornwood High School in South Holland, Illinois. The town is about 20 minutes south of Guaranteed Rate Field. He pitched there well enough to be a first-round pick out of high school by his home town club. It is really cool that a local boy got to play for the two Chicago teams for parts of ten years. The White Sox gave him his chance at 20 years old and he ran away with it.
Steve Trout played in 155 games for the White Sox making 88 starts. He had a record with them of 37-40. He had a 3.82 ERA with the White Sox which was the best ERA he had with any team he played for. He also had a 1.402 WHIP and 292 strikeouts with them. He wasn’t an all-star by any means but he certainly was a good player for them.
There are other teams that had some amazing luck as far as hometown draft picks but Trout wasn’t bad by any means. Hopefully, the White Sox are able to hit on the 2020 Draft no matter where their picks hail from.