It had been a few weeks since our inaugural White Sox mock draft roundup for the 2021 MLB draft season, but generally speaking, I try to follow the Rule of Threes. With Baseball America releasing its fourth mock draft a month and a half in advance of the MLB draft, that gave us the a quorum, which includes the first from ESPN this year.
The latest cluster yields three new names for the White Sox at No. 22. Include the two from our first look at the projections, and four of five are right-handed pitchers.
Baseball America (May 24)
- White Sox select: Chase Petty, RHP, Mainland Regional HS, Linwood, N.J.
- Previous mock: Andrew Painter, RHP, Calvary Christian HS, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Carlos Collazo’s view: “The White Sox have gone after a few flamethrowers in recent drafts (Garrett Crochet, Jared Kelley) and if they wanted to chase velocity once again, Petty is the guy. He has the hardest fastball in the prep class and has shown glimpses of a plus slider as well, but there’s effort to his operation and spotty control at times. He figures to be a polarizing prospect for teams, but the sense around the industry seems to be that he’ll find a spot in the back of the first. Haughton (La.) High shortstop Peyton Stovall might be a target here as well.”
Petty is a polarizing prospect because he throws that hard from a 6-foot, 185-pound frame. He's a Florida commit who is either ranked No. 25 (Baseball America, MLB Pipeline) or No. 32 on (Keith Law, Kiley McDaniel). As for the previous pick, Painter is already off the board at No. 20, so Petty if the third prep arm taken. What jumps out to me is Vanderbilt's Kumar Rocker, at one point seen as a candidate for 1-1, falling to the Royals at No. 7.
MLB.com (May 19)
- White Sox select: Adrian Del Castillo, C, Miami
- Previous mock: Sam Bachman, RHP, Miami (Ohio)
Jonathan Mayo’s view: “Once thought to be one of the top college bats in the class, he struggled early, but perhaps last weekend (4-for-11, 4 RBIs) is a sign of him heating up, though the lack of power and fringy defense makes it hard to place him.”
The White Sox drafted Del Castillo back in the 36th round in 2018, two years after selecting a catcher from the Hurricanes program who wasn't a lock to stick behind home plate, so there's a history here. Zack Collins is still catching despite being one of the league's worst receivers, so you couldn't necessarily write off Del Castillo from doing the same if the White Sox drafted him for his switch-hitting bat, which is off to a slow start this season. He was considered a top-five talent by some before the season, but has slid to the middle/back half of the first round on the various boards.
ESPN (May 11)
- White Sox select: Jaden Hill, RHP, LSU
Kiley McDaniel's view: "Hill was a top-10 pick entering the year despite a short track record on the mound and some injuries. He was up-and-down with flashes of greatness this spring, then went down with Tommy John surgery. The lack of track record and polish puts him next to advanced high school pitchers, but the surgery timeline pushes Hill behind the top couple of prep arms. He also may land in the comp or early second round where a team can spread savings from their first pick, but I'd expect a bonus in line with the 15th to 25th overall pick (i.e. $3-4 million)."
Hill ranked in BA's top 10 before the Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in April. Due to previous injuries, his previous role in relief and the pandemic, his body of work with the Tigers has been limited to 51⅓ innings, so he hasn't been able to show whether his power stuff can hold up start after start. For some context, the White Sox drafted Garrett Crochet under similarly mysterious circumstances regarding his newfound power, but Crochet had thrown 132 innings for Tennessee.
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