As we enter the third day of Prospect Week, we've already touched upon more than 20 prospects who fell into various categories:
Today we'll start with the players with the most limited bodies of work.
Notable 2019 draft picks
First round: Andrew Vaughn
The White Sox didn't really need another right-handed first baseman, but Vaughn's hitting skills at Cal were too prodigious to ignore. The Sox aren't alone in this assessment. Vaughn has been a top 30 prospect, including a No. 16 spot on MLB.com's list, which is highly unusual for an undersized righty who can't be moved to any other position.
Given his profile's reliance on his bat, the .252/.349/.411 line at Winston-Salem is slightly underwhelming, but like Nick Madrigal the year before, one has to account for fatigue and the shift to an everyday schedule. His plate discipline is immediately evident, not just in the numbers (16 walks, 17 strikeouts over 29 games), but in watching him go to work. He's good for a battle three or four times a game. Once that all-fields power shows up, it should be a lot of fun.
If he's on the Madrigal (or Luis Robert) plan, he'll return to Winston-Salem to start the season, prove he's immediately overqualified and then jump to Birmingham.
Second round: Matthew Thompson
Third round: Andrew Dalquist
They've been attached at the hip as the highest prep arms taken by the White Sox in years. Thompson has a history of bigger stuff, but it fluctuated over the course of his senior season and dropped him out of the first round. Dalquist doesn't have Thompson's best fastball yet, but his fastball/curve/changeup mix was more reliable over the course of the year.
We're relying on pre-draft reports mostly, because they combined to throw just five innings in the Arizona Rookie League. The White Sox look like they want to build a couple of pitchers from the ground up here, so I'm guessing we won't see them until June.
Fourth round: James Beard
Another high-school pick we won't see until June, Beard was regarded as the fastest guy in the draft with some ability to get bat to ball for firm contact, but he didn't face much in the way of advanced competition. That more or less played out in his pro debut, as he hit .213/.270/.307, 9-for-12 stealing bases and a 39 percent strikeout rate.
Other of note:
*DJ Gladney, the ACE alum who slugged .428 in the Arizona Rookie League after being taken in the 16th round. He also struck out 82 times in 50 games, but the exit velocity the Sox saw in predraft workouts came to play early.
*McKinley Moore and Caleb Freeman, this year's annual high-octane college arms taken early on Day 3 (14th and 15th round).
*Logan Glass and Chase Krogman, high school picks who signed deeper into Day 3. Glass signed for $175,000 in the 22nd round, and Krogman for $190,000 in Round 34.
International debuts
Yolbert Sanchez: The 22-year-old Cuban shortstop was the White Sox' only seven-figure signing of this July 2 period ($2.5M). He spent his pro debut beating up on the Dominican Summer League, likely for tax purposes a la Robert's first season. He hit .297/.386/.441, with more multi-hit games (10) than single-hit games (six). He also walked more than he struck out, although this is not particularly instructive given the age gap.
Baseball America rated him the No. 34 prospect in the class. He's got multiple skills, but his value rides on the kind of defender he can be at shortstop. Estimations vary.
Elijah Tatis: The Sox hope Tatis Lightning strikes twice. The younger brother of Fernando Tatis Jr. signed for $500,000 and hit .187/.300/.213 in his pro debut, showing decent control of the strike zone (13 walks, 16 strikeouts over 90 plate appearances), some speed and a decent performance at shortstop as early selling points.
Benyamin Bailey: The revelation of the White Sox's DSL affiliate in 2019, the 6-foot-5-inch Panamanian outfielder hit .324/.477/.454 over 55 games, all as a 17-year-old (he turned 18 on Sept. 18). He signed for $35,000 toward the end of the previous signing period. He overshadowed other strong performances from age-appropriate players like Ruben Benavides and Anthony Espinoza.
Ronaldo Guzman: One of two 16-year-olds on the DSL roster, the left-handed Guzman racked up a whopping 76 strikeouts to just 29 walks over 51⅔ innings, and his ERA spent most of the season hovering around 3.00 until a disastrous August outing blew it up. Ben Badler described Guzman's arsenal as fastball-changeup, with easy arm action on the former and advanced feel for the latter.
Manuel Veloz: The Venezuelan righty had a successful pro debut, posting a 0.91 ERA (with seven unearned runs) and 42 strikeouts to seven walks over 39⅔ innings. Badler described him as not overpowering -- yet -- but in possession of a three-pix mix for the level.
Next up: The old young guys.
