In the position I am in, it’s a blessing to get all the helpful fan feedback that I do receive, and to reflect on the perspective it provides. These days, a lot of comments are of the nature of “put everyone in bubble wrap,” or “all of our pets are dead,” or “I will donate my limbs to Eloy Jiménez.”
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With the benefit of a previous irrational decision to list out 67 prospects before the season, we can refer back to that list and see just how rough it’s been for the White Sox’s top prospects, and whether Jiménez really will need your limbs. For fun, first- and second-round picks Nick Madrigal and Steele Walker are listed about where they would fall if we were doing this whole list again right now, but otherwise the rankings are unchanged from the offseason list.
Tier 1
Eloy Jiménez, OF — Having a relatively normal season considering he’s been shut down from game action on three separate occasions and it certainly hasn’t hampered his game much, unless you’re deeply scrutinizing his defense. That said, between this year’s brief bout with knee soreness, a pectoral strain, an adductor strain and last year’s bone bruise, he’s developed a history of getting nicked up with minor ailments while incurring nothing that seems like it should hamper him long term.
Michael Kopech, RHP — Going through a more high-profile sequel of last year’s first-half control problems, but despite his hard-throwing ways, remains as healthy as an ox. He did get scratched once last year from a start on his 21st birthday for “flu-like symptoms.” (Off the field, he’s doing great, apparently. After breaking up with a reality show-starring girlfriend, he is now dating TV actress Vanessa Morgan and was recently on set for her CW show “Riverdale.”)
Tier 2
Luis Robert, OF — To steal a line from Tom Fornelli, Robert has 201 plate appearances since he signed last May, and 114 of them took place in the Dominican Summer League. That’s not good. Robert is still young and precocious, has a chance to get back and play this season, and some of the tools were put on display this season. But he hasn’t really been in sync since he left Cuba and general manager Rick Hahn acknowledged that due to the thumb issues, his power might not really play in games until next year.
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Tier 3
Nick Madrigal, IF— The revelation that he’s been dealing with a sore hamstring for three weeks adds some context to his struggles in the College World Series, if you prefer optimism. If you prefer pessimism, even though Madrigal will be back in action this week, White Sox prospects are injuring their hamstrings before they arrive now.
Alec Hansen, RHP — Lost almost half the Double-A season due to forearm issues, and after four clunkers, just had his first quality outing. As someone who led all of the minors in strikeouts last year, he’s still not back to the height of his powers, nor the increased velocity he was targeting when he set reaching the majors as his preseason goal.
Dylan Cease, RHP — The high-risk electric stuff guy with questionable command and a history of injury is having the most drama-free successful season of any of the top prospects. Baseball is a funny game. That or Cease has the top-level stuff that won’t be tested until the higher levels.
Dane Dunning, RHP — For someone whose carrying trait is reliability, missing eight weeks with an elbow strain is a major drag. Not every elbow injury is an immediate precursor to Tommy John surgery and this shouldn’t be treated as such, but it remains to be seen how smoothly he’ll return.
Tier 4
Zack Collins, C — Walking a ton, striking out a lot, hitting for solid but not overwhelming pop, and showing slow but steady progress on defense. He’s done what was expected of him, which can’t be taken for granted given the carnage around him.
Spencer Adams, RHP — Missed big league camp due to a torn ligament in his finger, and didn’t pitch like he was completely healthy for the first couple months, but has settled in right where he was expected to be — a strike-throwing innings-eater at Triple-A — at this point in the year.
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Jake Burger, 3B — Ugh, what a bummer.
Blake Rutherford, OF — He’s taken a pickoff throw to the gut and flipped over an outfield wall but has largely been healthy. He’s had as strong of a bounce-back campaign as could have been hoped for.
Tier 5
Luis Basabe, OF — Did the whole thing where his season was hampered and shortened by an injury last year as he battled through a torn meniscus in his left knee. This year he torched the Carolina League as he was expected to do upon repeating it, and earned himself a bid to the Futures Game.
Luis González, OF — The biggest issue for González is that there are scouts who think he needs to be in Double-A, and due to the White Sox’s glut of lower-minors outfielders, he spent the entire first half in Low-A Kannapolis. As far as problems go, this ranks as less severe than a ruptured Achilles.
Micker Adolfo, RF — As Hahn argued, Adolfo was able to squeeze in 334 plate appearances at Winston-Salem, which were encouraging even if they did not dismiss the larger concerns for him as he progresses to the higher levels (contact rate, making the power play consistently enough in games to counter the contact rate). But he will be getting Tommy John surgery, as Hahn talked about Tuesday, which is bad news for a raw hitting prospect.
Steele Walker, OF —The White Sox drafted him knowing he had a strained oblique, and he is currently out with a strained oblique. Coincidence? I think not. It does not seem like it will create a prolonged absence.
Carson Fulmer, RHP — Health has not been his issue.
Tier 6
Ryan Cordell, OF — Monday marked 12 weeks since he fractured his right clavicle diving for a ball in center field in Charlotte, and between waiver claims for Trayce Thompson and now Ryan LaMarre, it’s safe to say he missed a major opportunity to grab some playing time in the majors after another hefty opportunity at the end of 2017. To play the Luis Robert game, Cordell was acquired on July 26 of last year and since then has just 41 plate appearances in Triple-A to show for it.
Jordan Stephens, RHP — Stephens would point out that he was perfectly healthy right up until he felt forearm soreness at the end of spring training last year, but he’s been without issue so far this season and is spinning curveballs and running a 3.69 ERA in Triple-A Charlotte. He is meeting all expectations.
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A.J. Puckett, RHP — He started a throwing program a month ago, but has yet to appear in a game, even in the AZL, due to elbow soreness that knocked him out of the Double-A Birmingham rotation. He recently turned 23 and could pitch in the Arizona Fall League potentially, but has lost most of the season.
Tier 7
Seby Zavala, C — Started last season by having an awful month of April at Low-A Kannapolis, so with that in mind, that he’s currently having a rough transition to Triple-A offensively speaks to some nice work in-between. He missed a couple weeks with a sore wrist and has not quite returned to his power-hitting ways since, though an adjustment to a new level has to be weighed in.
Aaron Bummer, LHP — His stuff seems to be a couple steps out ahead of his command, both in the majors and since being optioned back to Charlotte, but health is not the question for the 24-year-old former Tommy John surgery recipient.
Zack Burdi, RHP — Burdi has not pitched in a game yet this year, which isn’t a surprise given he tore his ulnar collateral ligament in July 2017. Jace Fry has quickly shown how much fun it would be to have an electrifying youngster to dream on, even delivering the limited impact that a short reliever has, and Burdi seems unlikely to get a chance to push for the major league squad at the end of this season, but nothing new has gone wrong in his recovery.
Lightning round of interesting players
Kade McClure, RHP — On the one hand, he was a yeoman college starter in Louisville who slipped to the sixth round and didn’t throw much in 2017, so it wasn’t known that he was going to be a prospect worth paying attention to until he dominated Low-A over his first eight starts. On the other hand, he twisted his knee fielding a ball and required season-ending surgery, so now he’s a prospect worth paying attention to who got hurt. He remains childhood friends with Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
Casey Gillaspie, 1B — Spent some time on the restricted list, spent the rest of his time struggling at Triple-A at the age of 25 and getting outrighted off the 40-man roster. He is healthy, though.
Gavin Sheets, 1B — A short disabled list stint due to a foot strain can’t be blamed for his low power output, but his polished approach is still carrying him through a solid High-A season, even if the fundamental question about his profile remains unanswered.
Ian Clarkin, LHP — Has been out since the end of May with a groin strain, and has just started doing rehab starts in Arizona. Health aside, his results make his future as a starter less than automatic.
Bernardo Flores, LHP — After a strained oblique ended his 2017 season, he’s been as reliable as it gets through getting a mid-season promotion to Double-A Birmingham while seeing his velocity tick back up.
Jordan Guerrero, LHP — Last year’s top source of outrage for his 40-man roster omission, Guerrero was knocked around for 84 hits in 65 1/3 innings in Double-A Birmingham before getting a surprise call-up to Charlotte to fill a gap in their rotation for a bit. The shine from last year’s first half worn off, though.
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Alex Call, OF — An intercostal strain ruined his 2017 campaign, and while he’s been healthy since the end of 2018, he would say he’s still re-finding the rhythm he had in his draft year.
Jameson Fisher, OF — One of the Sox’s middle-tier outfield prospects had to get the aggressive assignment and go straight to Double-A, and Fisher drew the short straw. He has struggled in response.
Yeyzon Yrizarri, SS — He is an athletic shortstop, and everyone keeps talking about how cool it might be if he switched to pitching, which is a bit telling.
Ryan Burr, RHP — Between him and Ian Hamilton, I thought it would be Burr who would fly from the Birmingham bullpen and through the system at a rapid pace, but it turns out it was Hamilton. Burr has been dominant since June, though.
Thyago Vieira, RHP — He throws extremely hard with extreme effort and occasionally extreme control lapses.
Luis Curbelo, IF — Finally made it to full-season ball and is holding his own before Madrigal arrives and shifts the whole Kannapolis infield around in his wake.
Justin Yurchak, 1B — The approach and contact have come with him to full-season ball, but the power has not, which is an issue at first base.
Jace Fry, LHP — His year actually started with a disabled list stint for an oblique strain, but now he has an argument for “best reliever in the major league bullpen” status. He credits his rehab coach for the turnaround, so maybe prospect injuries are actually good.
Lincoln Henzman, RHP — In the name of managing his innings load progression, he’s back to the bullpen for the second half of the season. It will be interesting to see how his hyper-economical strike-throwing translates to the higher levels, but when you’re converting a college reliever to starting and that’s the big question left, it’s going pretty all right.
Charlie Tilson, OF — The most injury-ravaged man in the organization last year has been the one soaking up big league reps that others have spurned this year. His high-contact, low-power game seems to scream fourth outfielder, and that’s exactly the job he’s holding down right now.
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Tito Polo, OF — He has hit the disabled list a couple times this year and finds himself mostly on the outside looking in at the Barons’ outfield rotation. Great name though.
Craig Dedelow, OF — Needs to stand out at the plate as a 23-year-old corner outfielder playing in Low-A, and so far he has not stood out.
Joel Booker, OF — The former 22nd-round speedster has taken his underdog run up to Double-A after winning Carolina League All-Star Game MVP honors. He has already surprised scouts with his pop and hit tool in getting this far but will have to keep beating the odds to push through this glut of outfield prospects.
Tyler Danish, RHP — The transition to middle relief is looking permanent, but the 23-year-old still needs to be more of strike-thrower to make his “three pitches or less” sinker approach work.
Tyler Johnson, RHP — It’s rare that you see someone complete a perfectly straight trajectory from the back of the bullpen in Low-A to the back of the bullpen in the majors. But Johnson has been nothing but overpowering since getting selected in the fifth round last year and has curbed his control problems.
Alex Destino, OF — After a three-game cameo in Kannapolis last year, it was a little surprising he didn’t get a full-season assignment, but a slow start in Great Falls is showing it made sense.
Yermin Mercedes, C — He is fun to watch, but his nice offensive numbers in High-A would be more fun if he were not 25 years old and in his third season at the level.
Ian Hamilton, RHP — Last year he was another raw and hard-throwing reliever who seemed overwhelmed upon arriving at Double-A. Now he’s the relief prospect du jour in Triple-A who looks like he could get called up any moment and get major leaguers out.
José Rondón, SS — He’s tweaked his hamstring a couple times, so he’s not the perfect picture of prospect health, but he’s given himself a decent case to be a utility infield option going forward.
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Laz Rivera, SS — At a level beyond Booker’s underdog status is Rivera, a 28th-rounder who mostly got my attention for making a play in instructional league last October that drew a standing ovation from manager Rick Renteria. He is 23 years old and not a tools monster, but riding an OPS over .900 across two levels of A-ball is a good way to transcend that.
Maiker Feliz, 3B — He’s 20 years old and has hit two home runs in nine games at Great Falls so far this year. He is very far away.
Mike Morrison, RHP — You don’t want to see any relief prospect struggle in High-A, but control problems seem like a common way for relief prospects to struggle.
Matt Foster, RHP — Also a reliever struggling with control, but only after he dominated High-A in the first half and got promoted
Jacob May, CF — He has not been the picture of perfect health, but is struggling to consistently get on base at Triple-A for the third-straight year and does not seem in the mix to get another big league look soon.
Brian Clark, LHP — After putting up solid but unspectacular numbers as a reliever in Triple-A, Clark is now putting up solid but unspectacular numbers as a reliever in Double-A this year.
Will Kincanon, RHP — The hard-throwing reliever is just getting his feet wet in Low-A.
Amado Nunez, SS — After struggling mightily as a 19-year-old in Great Falls last year, he is just struggling normally as a 20-year-old in Great Falls so far this year.
José Ruiz, RHP — The converted catcher was outrighted at the beginning of the year but is putting up dynamite numbers out of the bullpen in Double-A. He looks like a good depth addition.
Jimmy Lambert, RHP — Adding three mph to his fastball and switching over to a four-seamer/curveball/changeup combination has proven revelatory for the former fifth-round pick, who is putting up big swing-and-miss numbers in Birmingham and has put himself on the map as a prospect. His deception and athleticism will get tested at higher levels, but as you can see, he was more of an afterthought going into the year.
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Matt Rose, 1B/3B — He’s going to set a career-high in home runs this year after a stance change brought out his pop — and the Sox certainly aren’t flush with third base options — but has struggled badly to make contact in Birmingham.
Victor Diaz, RHP — Still waiting to throw his first pitch for a White Sox affiliate this season due to shoulder troubles.
Danny Mendick, IF — Those still smarting from the loss of Jake Peter should know there is another well-traveled middle infielder with moderate pop waiting in the weeds in Birmingham, though Mendick has struggled since June.
Evan Skoug, C — He dropped to the seventh round due to contact problems and questions about whether he could stick behind the plate, and he’s running a strikeout rate over 30 percent and has seven passed balls in 38 games in Kannapolis.
Andre Davis, LHP — Neither pitcher from the Melky Cabrera trade has pitched in a game this season, with Davis sitting out due to knee surgery for a patella issue.
Trey Michalczewski, 3B — Still only 23, but consistent pop has never shown up against Double-A pitching.
Mitch Roman, 2B — Still not much pop, but has played all over the infield for the Dash and got on base at a decent clip.
Zach Thompson, RHP — After three years of being extremely tall with good-looking stuff in High-A, he finally got a promotion to Birmingham and is looking nasty out of the bullpen.
Ben Wright, RHP — Spending the entire season on the restricted list seems suboptimal
Sam Abbott, 1B — Extremely raw power prospect should spend the summer playing complex league ball. Still searching for his first professional home run.
Corey Zangari, 1B — Finally healthy after Tommy John surgery, the raw power prospect is stroking homers in Great Falls again. This is his third year spending time there, but at 21 years of age, all hope is not lost.
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Bryant Flete, 2B — He’s listed at 5-foot-10, 146 pounds. This does not seem like it’s particularly close to being right.
Glaring omissions who have proven to be at least as relevant as the guys listed here: Tate Blackman, 2B; Yosmer Solorzano, RHP; Blake Battenfield, RHP; John Parke, LHP; Luis Martinez, RHP; Blake Hickman, RHP; Ti’Quan Forbes, IF; Zach Remillard, IF/OF.
New draft additions who will obviously need to be considered on the next list: Konnor Pilkington, RHP; Lency Delgado, SS; Jonathan Stiever, RHP; Codi Heuer, RHP; Cabera Weaver, OF; Kelvin Maldanado, SS; Isaiah Carranza, RHP; and many others.
(Top photo of Eloy Jiménez: Butch Dill/USA TODAY Sports)