White Sox Prospects Lit The World On Fire Last Night
So I didn’t anticipate giving a shit about what the prospects did all too much this year, but being in a perpetual rebuild has forced me to reinvest in my MiLB.com package so I could watch two Minor League Baseball games simultaneously on my computer. Awesome stuff, and I’m only like 1/2 kidding. I love watching the prospects of all systems, not just the White Sox. Seeing the stars of tomorrow before a lot of them are known presences in the game is cool to me for some reason.
Anyways, on to the White Sox. Last night was a good night for the rebuild. We’ll start in Low A Winston Salem:
Luis Robert leading off, first AB of the season for the team, not just him. Turn the volume up for proper dramatic effect:
Effortless power stroke. Kept his hands back just long enough on what looked like a changeup and let his raw talent do the rest of the work.
Next at bat, same thing, this time on a slider:
Now Robert always had 30/30 potential. But his issue thus far, aside from staying healthy, has been translating his raw power into game power. There are plenty of behemoths in MiLB who possess light tower power in BP, but can’t sniff any sort of power output against live pitching. Now Robert hasn’t been bad so far in MiLB, but his power has yet to translate. Here are his home run numbers from the last two seasons:
2018: zero (not including the Arizona Fall League where he had a few, including this one) Sound up for the video below:
2019: two
He also had a few in spring training bombs, but he’s finally starting to find his power stroke. He also added a walk and a SB tonight. Huge night for the 5 tool talent. If he continues to tap into his raw power, look for him to skyrocket up the prospect rankings this summer.
Also, FWIW:
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Next up we go to Charlotte. Zack Collins, former 10th overall pick out of The U, also went deep twice tonight:
Dinger #1:
annnnd dinger #2:
Zack Collins will tee off in Charlotte. Last year in Birmingham he “struggled” with a .234/.384 slash line and 15 home runs. Not bad, but not great. He lead all MiLB hitters in walks, but also struck out a fuck ton, about a 28% clip to be specific. Can’t have it, won’t have it. That said Birmingham is a notorious pitchers park. Charlotte is the exact opposite. Collins probably won’t hit for too high an average, but if he his .260ish once he settles in, he’ll get on base at a .400 clip and provide really nice left handed pop out of the catcher’s position. He has Frank Thomas eyes, and Frank Thomas eyes play at any level. He’ll see Chicago this year
There wasn’t too much else to note with the rest of the affiliates. Madrigal was 0-3 with a BB and 2 stolen bases. He’s going to fly through the system as well and probably see Chicago early next year. Ian Hamilton also came back, though he struggled. That said he was getting his feet re-wet after getting in a car accident this spring and dinging up his shoulder. I’d imagine he’ll be back in Chicago in the next few weeks as well, adding to the Sox (on paper) solid pen.
We’re back to praying for the league. These guys are inching closer to Chicago every single day. Getting Collins, Eloy, Robert, Madrigal, Moncada, Abreu and whoever else in the lineup at the same time is going to be a lot of fun and we’re almost at that point. Just gotta tough out about 50 bad more games of baseball (lol!)
See everyone at the G Spot today