The next installment of Prospect Week covers the players who were usurped as the new kids on the block by last year's draft and signing classes, but they're still young enough and/or obscure enough to remain men of mystery.
If you missed the previous installments:
Below are seven more prospects whose presents are nearly as difficult to define as their futures.
Lenyn Sosa: One of two 19-year-olds given an ambitious full-season assignment in Kannapolis, Sosa's aggregate line might suggest he wasn't ready. He hit .251/.292/.371 over 122 games, drawing 27 walks to 102 strikeouts and stealing just six bases in 12 attempts. The shortstop play was encouraging based on errors -- and errors can tell you a lot in the low minors -- but there isn't much to write home about on the surface.
Sosa might've only had a .663 OPS, but he got to a .663 OPS the way you want to see a 19-year-old do it: by hitting .310/.348/.460 over his last 30 games. He got off to a ghastly start, but he started doing more withis contact in May, and he got a handle on his strikeout-to-walk ratio starting in June. If you want to expand his sample size to his last three months (71 games), it plays for a guy at his age (.270/.320/.386).
The question is how much growth he has remaining, as he's not an obvious projection candidate. Speed isn't his thing, so ideally one would like to see more power. It's hard to complain too much when a $325,000 signing is ahead of schedule.
Bryce Bush: The other 19-year-old pushed at Kannapolis, Bush's numbers look even worse (.201/.285/.346, 92 strikeouts to 27 walks over 67 games). Unlike Sosa, he didn't have health on his side. He kept fouling balls off the same spot on his foot, and by the time he recovered from that, he developed a case of bronchitis that basically wrecked him for the rest of the year.
In order for me to sell you on him, I have to craft more of a narrative. It looks something like...
- While in over his head at third base: .096/.158/.115 over 13 games.
- After getting moved to right field: .305/.396/.549 over 23 games.
- First two weeks after the injury: .122/.204/.306 over 13 games.
- The following two weeks: .268/.344/.393 over 14 games.
Then he went 0-for-21 over his last seven games, the last four of which came in Arizona as they tried to salvage the season during his bronchitis bout.
As somebody who likes the talent, I see a guy who was Kannapolis' best hitter at 19 when feeling right defensively and physically, and so I'm still on the bandwagon. But as we've seen with Micker Adolfo and Corey Zangari and others, it's harder to stay attached to the talent when it can't stay on the field. This year should be big when it comes to establishing durability.
Jose Rodriguez: If Rodriguez starts the 2020 season in Kannapolis, it'd be an aggressive-but-reasonable assignment along the lines of Sosa and Bush in 2019. I'm not sure if it's the best idea for his future, but I'd like to see it in order to learn a little more about the player. He's hit his way onto the radar, first as a 17-year-old in the Dominican Summer League (.291/.318/.401), and then with a strong season at age 18 in the AZL.
Down in the desert, Rodriguez hit .293/.328/.505, leading the team in most power categories (homers, triples, extra-base hits, slugging percentage). He also stole seven bases in eight attempts while playing shortstop more often than not. He struck out five times for every walk, but we've seen worse (22.5% to 4.5%).
Despite the profile, we don't know a whole lot about the player. He didn't sign for a large-enough amount to show up on Ben Badler's reviews, so we can only go off the video and input Sean Williams provided from Glendale.
There's room for Rodriguez in Kannapolis even if Sosa returns to low-A at the start of the season because he apparently looks better at second base. I'm all for it, especially if Kannapolis' new stadium means MiLB.tv feeds.
A brief aside: Speaking of the stadium, it now has a name.
Lency Delgado: When the Sox selected Delgado in the fourth round of the 2018 draft out of the Florida prep ranks, he was billed as having the mold of a power-hitting third baseman. Two short seasons into his career, he hasn't yet forced a move off shortstop, which is good since the strength of contact is lagging.
The White Sox bumped up Delgado from the AZL to the Pioneer League, and it was a mixed bag. He hit .274/.325/.377, but a strong BABIP saved his production:
- 2018: 6.0% BB, 26.7% K, .323 BABIP
- 2019: 6.0% BB, 37.5% K, .452 BABIP
The ISO did improve year-over-year with more doubles, so the progress, while incremental, is detectable. But since he was on the older side for a prep pick, it's about time he starts holding his own, especially since his forebear Luis Curbelo slid off the radar.
Cabera Weaver: He doesn't share similarities with Delgado as a player -- Weaver is a willowy center fielder and six months younger -- but their seasons followed the same course. Weaver went from the AZL in 2018 to Great Falls in 2019 somewhat on faith, and while he held his own (.254/.317/.377), the underlying numbers will need to turn around:
- 2018: 10.0% BB, 28.9% K, .375 BABIP
- 2019: 6.9% BB, 32.6% K, .387 BABIP
Weaver was seen as more of a project as a hitter when he was taken in the seventh round, so combine his speed with an ISO that's now three digits and the progress is more palpable.
Josue Guerrero: Toward the end of his third professional season -- second stateside -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s cousin finally found something resembling traction. Another disappointing start put him on the verge of write-off territory, as his average lagged below the Mendoza Line through the first 21 games of his 43-game sample.
The following game against the Cubs was the fulcrum of his year, literally and figuratively. He blasted his first two homers of the season, setting the course of a .289/.345/.526 run over his final 22 games. He belted five homers, and while he strikeout rate still cleared 30 percent, that still marked a major improvement, especially since the three-strikeout games disappeared.
Guerrero earned a $1.1 million signing bonus as the headliner in an outfield-heavy July 2 class in 2017, and neither he nor Luis Mieses nor Anderson Comas nor Anthony Coronado have distinguished themselves in rookie ball. They've had hot streaks here and there, but the first one to string together two encouraging samples wins.
Yoelvin Silven: When it comes to international pitchers who sign for unremarkable amounts of money, one is left to scout the most significant numbers -- innings, walks and strikeouts -- and see if the White Sox had a similar response.
Silven's followed that path. After striking out 71 batters against 16 walks over 64 innings in the DSL in 2018, he came to the states and experienced even more success in the AZL. He kept the strikeouts (51 over 44 innings), but he shaved down the walks to a miniscule five, and that earned him a season-ending promotion to Great Falls for the final three games.
Like Rodriguez, a season-starting assignment in Kannapolis feels a little aggressive, but I wouldn't mind seeing what he throws.
Later today: The big questions.
