The Chicago White Sox took a hit with shortstop prospect Colson Montgomery falling out of MLB Pipeline's Top 100, but they still have plenty of quality prospects in the organization according to the latest update.
With outfielder Braden Montgomery being one of the biggest risers on the list, the White Sox now have four prospects ranked in the Top 40. No other MLB team can claim that.
Noah Schultz (No. 13), Kyle Teel (No. 28), Hagen Smith (No. 30), and Braden Montgomery (No. 38) all look like future big leaguers.
The White Sox also have the most Top 60 prospects in the game, with catcher Edgar Quero being ranked 58th.
Better days are coming for the White Sox
Quero is already in the Major Leagues. He started strong with a .306/.432/.361 slash line during his first 13 games over the final two weeks of April. Opposing pitchers are starting to make adjustments as he is hitting .231 this month with a .555 OPS. Quero is in the middle of a 1-for-15 slump over his past four games.
Slumps are inevitbale for every baseball player. The challenge now for Quero is adjusting back to the competition and solidifying himself as a cornerstone player.
Quero seems to have a very sound approach at the plate. He takes pitches and is not afraid to send the ball to the open part of the field. At the moment, he is struggling with cutters and sinkers and has not been given many pitches to hit.
The White Sox would also like to see him tap into a little bit of power. Quero only has three extra-base hits this season.
Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith are still considered the two best left-handed pitching prospects in the game. Kyle Teel is ranked as the best true catching prospect and Montgomery's rise up the rankings makes him the eighth-best outfield prospect.
Schultz and Smith becoming dominant big league pitchers would help turn things around quickly for the Sox, especially with Shane Smith and Sean Burke already showing promise in The Show. Schultz and Smith will need to command the ball consistently to get there.
Schultz has been inconsistent all season with locating his pitches in the strike zone after being nearly untouchable last year at Double-A. It's no reason to panic. Schultz has already pitched 1/3 of the innings he threw last season. I chalk it up to normal growing pains since his stuff is still nasty. This is just him getting used to an increased workload, and hitters seeing his stuff more.
Smith just needs to be consistent with his command. Some nights he has looked unhittable and other nights he is all over the place.
Montgomery is crushing the ball at High-A Winston-Salem. His 1.242 OPS in 12 games makes it feel like it is a matter of time before he gets moved up to Double-A. Teel is hitting .333 over his past 10 games, which took his average from .247 to .264.
The Sox have a core of young players they can move forward with. The key is getting more impact bats in the draft and continuing to develop pitching, as a rash of injuries in spring training showed Tommy John surgery can ruin everything.
Colson Montgomery's struggles should also serve as a reminder that things can take a turn quickly in this game. Montgomery went from being ranked 39th the last time MLB Pipeline had a Top 100 to falling out of the rankings completely.
It's good to be optimistic, but fans should always exercise caution when it comes to prospects. The last White Sox rebuild yielded high praise and it ended without a single playoff series win.
For now, it is okay to dream of better days because there are signs they are coming. The White Sox farm system is legit.