Arizona Fall League Wrap: White Sox prospects emerge unscathed

Four of the six teams in the Arizona Fall League make the postseason, but the Glendale Desert Dogs were not one of them, which had to be expected given the association with the White Sox.

At 12-18, the Desert Dogs finished sixth out of six (of course). At -29, the Desert Dogs had the worst run differential (of course). That's just how it goes with anything tied to the White Sox farm system in 2023. Better luck next year, (what I assume are) Coyotes.

The individual results were better than the team results, in that all the key prospects held their own. Ideally one of the hitters would've created a frenzy, but at least all their batting averages started with a "2," their OBPs with a "3," and slugging percentages with a "4." That wasn't always the case, especially for the first man up.

Colson Montgomery

At one point in the fall, Montgomery had two walks against 20 strikeouts. That seemed like an aberration, but it's also the last thing this particular system needs, so that small-sample nightmare felt just a little bit too real.

That evened out over the last couple of weeks, during which he won the Fall Stars Game MVP with a resounding lefty-lefty homer.

He finished the season with 384 plate appearances, not too far off of his total of 420 the previous season. The hope is that the back and oblique tweaks are a distant memory when he shows up to Camelback Ranch next spring, and also that he has no chance of winning a job out of spring training, because Chris Getz should've seen what happened when the Sox make Plan A's of guys who should get time to force their way into the picture.

Bryan Ramos

Ramos' production was slightly muted by a sluggish start, but just about everything else is representative of his season, including the decent walk and strikeout rates. He finished the season with 454 plate appearances, as the spring groin injury cost him a shot at his third consecutive season with 500 PAs.

Jacob Burke

When Burke was assigned to the Desert Dogs, I'd wondered if he'd be a taxi-squad player who'd appear in a couple games a week. He'd shown everything he needed to show over 85 games, even if a season-opening injury cost him 20 more, and his production flagged with Winston-Salem over the final month of the season.

Then he goes and leads all White Sox prospects in plate appearances, so shows what I know. Everything was good except the strikeout rate, but a guy who blew past his career high with 490 plate appearances and got that much AFL experience before his first plate appearance in Double-A might look a little underpowered at times.

While the hitters' performances all fell comfortably within the bounds of average, the White Sox's five pitchers all fell on the edges of the spectrum, with three disappointments and two outstanding showings.

Jake Eder

The White Sox ended Eder's regular season in early in order to get him started in Arizona earlier, putting him through their pitch lab before letting him restore some innings in the AFL. It didn't look any different than his work with the Barons, particularly when it came to control.

With Tommy John surgery, the idea is that command is often the last thing to come back. Eder is stretching the bounds of tolerance in that regard, although he also had a broken foot complicating matters. At least he was always able to take the ball when it was given to him, which isn't nothing when dealing with a 1-2 punch of rehab tasks.

While the first impression of the Jake Burger trade is terrible on both sides, Jim Callis urged patience on the latest Sox Machine Podcast.

Jordan Leasure

If the White Sox wanted to get a look Leasure around the complex after acquiring him from the Dodgers in the Lance Lynn deal, the Sox had to like what they saw. Leasure had a bumpy transition to Triple-A, going straight to Charlotte after the trade, but he eventually stabilized with the Knights. Eight of his last 10 regular-season outings were scoreless, and then he had an even better percentage in the fall. He can't quite be penciled into the 26-man roster, but he probably has a spot for the taking.

Fraser Ellard

I was a little afraid that my interview with Ellard caught him at a high point, and regression would immediately set in. Fortunately, Ellard only had to dodge regression for one more outing, and he struck out two over a perfect inning to cap off a triumphant fall league. He can head back to Charlotte, stopping at five national parks along the way, with his head held high.

(That sentence makes sense if you heard my interview with Ellard on Wednesday's Sox Machine Podcast, although it was immediately overshadowed by the Jason Benetti news.)

Josimar Cousin

Cousin signed for $100,000 months into the signing period, and while he has some deferred money awaiting him if he reaches the majors over the next two years, there isn't any reason to project him onto future payrolls yet. Cousin pitched 55 unremarkable innings, most of them at Winston-Salem, and then he got lit up in the AFL. He'll turn 26 around the time spring training opens, which explains the aggressive onboarding schedule. Maybe a normal offseason will be what he needs, or maybe he's just a flier who won't pan out.

Adisyn Coffey

Coffey ended up giving up a run in his final inning of work, but the first five innings were so rough that it still managed to lower his ERA. While his minor-league career has been unremarkable, his walk rate has been similarly nondescript, so the specific way he faltered here is surprising. Perhaps he was adding or replacing a pitch the way Ellard did with his cutter, but with a far rockier adjustment period.