Baseball America names unheralded recent draft pick as White Sox sleeper for 2026

While 10th overall pick Billy Carlson and local outfielder Jaden Fauske stole the headlines for the White Sox at the 2025 MLB draft, the full 20-player class features some other exciting talents. Third-round pick Kyle Lodise has already reached High-A Winston-Salem. and many are optimistic about the future of fourth-round pick Landon Hodge. Baseball America recently highlighted another player that they believe can be an impact prospect for the White Sox: SS Matthew Boughton.

Boughton is a late-round pick with big tools

The White Sox selected Boughton in the 11th round in 2025 out of Covenant Christian Academy in Texas. Boughton elected to sign for just under $200k instead of attending Texas A&M, and he reported to Arizona to finish the 2025 season. At 20, he's a bit older than most players coming out of high school, perhaps contributing to his plummet to the 11th round. Boughton didn't play for a White Sox affiliate in 2025, but he could begin the 2025 season with Low-A Kannapolis.

A track star in High School, Boughton's most obvious tool is his elite speed. He looks like a solid defender at shortstop, and could be athletic enough to play a different position effectively if necessary. As a hitter, he's raw, but the White Sox believe they can develop his ability to hit for both contact and power. At 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, Boughton has a projectible frame and can add strength as he gets older. Scouting Director Mike Shirley indicated that the team was looking at taking Boughton in the fifth round and was thrilled to land him six rounds later.

While relatively unknown on other outlets, Baseball American ranks Boughton 30th in the White Sox organization. The general consensus is a need to shorten his swing and make more contact with the ball, and the White Sox new hitting infrastructure has put an emphasis on making better swing decisions. 11th-round picks rarely turn into impact players at the big league level, but it's not unheard of, and if not for concerns about his signability, Boughton likely would've gone much higher in July.

Boughton represents the kind of high-risk, high-reward swings the White Sox can afford to take from the amateur ranks. In prep bats Billy Carlson, Jaden Fauske, and Landon Hodge, they added a handful of these high upside players in last year's draft. The swings feel even more worthwhile now that the White Sox have landed the first overall pick in the 2026 draft, giving them the opportunity to land a more mature college bat that'll be quicker to the big leagues. UCLA's Roch Cholowsky is the overwhelming favorite to be the pick.

As the 2026 season approaches, keep an eye on SS Matthew Boughton as he looks to take a step forward and firmly insert himself into the mix in Chicago.