White Sox: Will Oscar Colas or Yoelqui Cespedes get the call first?

Yoelqui Cespedes is someone that the Chicago White Sox could consider adding.

Many teams sought after Yoelqui Céspedes because his scouting had him further along than former All-Star brother Yoenis. The 5’9″ 185-pound Cuban outfielder with a prospect rating of 50 signed with the White Sox in January of 2021.

Even though he declared free agency in March of 2020, Céspedes waited a year so he could sign with the White Sox. Since it seems like some of the players on the 2022 team don’t want to play, it’s nice to see someone who does.

From the start, Céspedes made his presence known. He put on 20 pounds of muscle training with his brother and went to work. After 19 games in the Arizona Fall League, he started at Winston-Salem, hitting seven home runs and driving in 20 with ten stolen bases in 45 games. He earned a mid-season call-up to Double-A Brigham and began his 2022 with the Barons.

In 85 games this year, Céspedes is hitting a slash of .260/.340/.456 with an OPS of .796. More importantly, he’s hit 13 home runs and drove in 44 runs with 20 stolen bases. A critical flaw in his game is his 104 strikeouts. Another player with this approach is not what this 2022 team needs.

His plus speed allows him to play center but matched with a strong arm makes him the perfect right fielder, especially for this team. When he figures out how to keep the strikeouts to a minimum and take a few more walks, Céspedes has a spot in right field on the south side. The only question is, will his teammate Oscar Colás beat him to it?