Chicago White Sox: 1 prospect is really gaining steam

Although the Chicago White Sox‘s season is over, it is just getting started for some players in the organization in the Arizona Fall League.

The Arizona Fall League started to play on October 13th, and the White Sox have seven players representing the organization and are playing for the Glendale Desert Dogs.

One prospect is heating up a bit more than others as he flies up the top 30 prospect list. It’s the White Sox No. 9 prospect, shortstop Jose Rodriguez.

Batting as the designated hitter in the seventh spot in the lineup, Rodriguez helped lead the Desert Dogs to a victory on Monday night after hitting a grand slam in the eighth inning to slam the door shut on the Mesa Solar Sox. He sat on a fastball and got it in the second pitch of his at-bat.

The Chicago White Sox has a lot of very good prospects still in their system.

“Always be ready for the fastball,” he said, through interpreter and Glendale pitching coach Danny Farquhar.

It was his first home run of the Fall League. Rodriguez signed with the White Sox in February of 2018 and just turned 20 this year. His ability to hit a fastball allowed him to move up three levels throughout his 2021 campaign, as he hit 14 home runs and slashed .301/.338/.469 in 111 games. He has quickly risen on the White Sox prospect list and moved into the top ten late in the year.

Rodriguez played 107 games between Low-A and High-A and slashed .322/.355/.495. In his four-game stint with the Birmingham Barons in Double-A, he slashed .214/.214/.286. Rodriguez has impressive bat-to-ball skills and showed that in 2021. He only struck out 72 times through 111 games while maintaining a .300 batting average.

MLB Pipeline thinks he has average tools across the board but he was impressive enough in 2021 that the White Sox wanted to see more of him in the fall. Rodriguez is young, only 20, doesn’t project to be MLB ready for another few years.

If the Chicago White Sox are able to have many prospects jump like Rodriguez, there will be sustained success for a long time. They already have multiple stars at the MLB level so now they need to keep stocking up the farm.

Hopefully, this team is able to keep up the solid development. We have seen lots of rookies come out of nowhere and make an impact which is the sign of a healthy organization.