White Sox select high school shortstop that may be best defender in 2025 MLB Draft

With the 10th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, the Chicago White Sox selected high school shortstop Billy Carlson out of Corona HS in California.

Carlson is known for his standout glove. Many evaluators consider him to be the best defender in the entire draft class.

He is the No. 7 overall draft prospect on MLB Pipeline's list for the 2025 draft class.

Billy Carlson is an elite defender

Billy Carlson, who goes by the nickname "Billy The Kid," has a 70-grade glove on the 20-80 scouting scale.

"Even with all of his offensive upside, his glove might be ahead of his bat, with some scouts putting as high as a 70 on his arm strength and defensive actions at shortstop," reads his prospect profile on MLB.com.

There seems to be no doubt that Carlson will be able to stick at shortstop long-term. That potentially complicates things for Chase Meidroth, Colson Montgomery, and Caleb Bonemer down the line. But that's a problem the White Sox will deal with when it gets here.

For now, Chicago needed to add position players to the organization's farm system, and Carlson gives them five-tool potential at a premium position.

Bleacher Report compared Carlson to former Giants All-Star shortstop Brandon Crawford. That makes a ton of sense given his defensive profile, but the main thing White Sox fans should be looking at is if Carlson's offense develops.

There are concerns about Billy Carlson's offense

Carlson has a 50-grade hit tool and 50-grade power tool on the 20-80 scale. Both project to be "average" in the future, according to FanGraphs.

"All summer, Carlson impressed with his athleticism and bat speed from the right side of the plate," reads his prospect profile. "It's more of a line-drive approach at present with a good swing, but he has the chance to grow into more impact and average or better power, though not all evaluators were sold on his hit tool."

It's not the slam dunk offensive player that most White Sox fans were hoping for. Carlson is also a bit older than most high school draft picks - he'll turn 19 at the end of July.

Carlson has some subtle issues with his swing, keeping his hands so far back that he occasionally has trouble getting the barrel to the baseball. He doesn't do well against offspeed pitches, which could plague him as a pro. That said, we've already seen the White Sox correct some hand placement issues with Miguel Vargas during the 2025 MLB season.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have concerns of my own. There is a clear power deficiency in the White Sox organization right now and I'm not sure Carlson is the prospect to fix that. But with the way the draft board fell for Chicago, Carlson was probably the best option.

Hopefully, that bat speed and line-drive approach turns into 20+ homer power at the big league level. If Carlson can be an above-average offensive player, his defense at shortstop will make him one of the most valuable players the White Sox have had in years.