South Side Sox Prospect Vote: Round 2

Congratulations, Eloy Jimenez!

With 70% of the vote (315 of 449 ballots), Jimenez is South Side Sox’s No. 1 prospect for 2018.

Dane Dunning now slides into the fray.

South Side Sox Top White Sox Prospects for 2018

1. Eloy Jimenez — 70% (Kopech 16%, Robert 11%, Hansen 2%, Cease 1%)

Here are your choices for the second round of voting:

Dylan Cease, SP

2018 Age: 22

2017 High Level: Kannapolis (A)

Overall 2017 stats: 22 starts ▪️ 93 ¹⁄₃ IP ▪️ 3.28 ERA ▪️ 126 K ▪️ 44 BB ▪️ 1.27 WHIP

ZiPS MLB Projection: N/A

ZiPs Player Comp: N/A

Dylan Cease came to the White Sox along with Eloy Jimenez in the Jose Quintana trade and impressed during his Cactus League audition in 2018. Cease had Tommy John surgery in high school and got a slow start in his professional career, throwing just 24 innings in 2015, more than a year after he was drafted. In 2016, Cease threw 44 ²⁄₃ innings in the Northwest League, with 66 Ks and a 2.22 ERA. Last year he was dominant in low-A ball before being shut down with arm soreness. Cease will be in high-A Winston-Salem’s rotation to begin 2018, with advancement to Birmingham in the offing.

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Dane Dunning, SP

2018 Age: 23

2017 High Level: Winston-Salem (A+)

Overall 2017 stats: 26 starts ▪️ 144 IP ▪️ 2.94 ERA ▪️ 168 K ▪️ 38 BB ▪️ 1.15 WHIP

ZiPS MLB Projection: N/A

ZiPs Player Comp: N/A

Dunning arrived in the White Sox system in 2017 as the third piece — yes, third, along with Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez — of the Adam Eaton trade with the Washington Nationals. In 2016, his first year in pro ball, Dunning dominated A-ball with a 2.02 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 33 ²⁄₃ innings. In 2017, Dunning quickly moved to Winston-Salem and had a 3.51 ERA and continued to show strikeout stuff with good control. Dunning has a low-90s fastball with sink and a mid-80s slider. As larry said in his writeup on Dunning, the White Sox were hot on the righthander’s trail in the 2016 draft, but Washington plucked him first; Chicago GM Rick Hahn may well have made it a priority to get Dunning in any potential trade with the Nats. Dunning opens the 2018 season back at Winston-Salem but is on the fast track for Birmingham.

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Alec Hansen, SP

2018 Age: 23

2017 High Level: Birmingham (AA)

Overall 2017 stats: 26 starts ▪️ 141 ¹⁄₃ IP ▪️ 2.80 ERA ▪️ 191 K ▪️ 51 BB ▪️ 1.17 WHIP

ZiPS MLB Projection: 146 ¹⁄₃ IP ▪️ 4.61 ERA ▪️ 144 K ▪️ 64 BB ▪️ ERA+ 106 ▪️ WAR 1.6

ZiPs Player Comp: Ron Darling

Hansen fell to the White Sox at 49th overall after falling out of his college rotation at Oklahoma due to wildness (7.0 BB/9). After some adjustments to his mechanics, Hansen took off, with a 1.32 ERA at rookie and low-A ball. In 2017, Hansen burned through the White Sox system, starting in Kannapolis and ending up in Birmingham, to the tune of a 2.80 ERA and 12.2 K/9 rate. Forearm soreness has slowed the start of Hansen’s season, but he remains a larry favorite and has had nothing but success in the White Sox system.

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Michael Kopech, SP

2018 Age: 21

2017 High Level: Charlotte (AAA)

Overall 2017 stats: 25 starts ▪️ 134 ¹⁄₃ IP ▪️ 2.88 ERA ▪️ 172 K ▪️ 65 BB ▪️ 1.17 WHIP

ZiPS MLB Projection: 133 ²⁄₃ IP ▪️ 4.44 ERA ▪️ 157 K ▪️ 80 BB ▪️ ERA+ 97 ▪️ WAR 1.7

ZiPs Player Comp: Ubaldo Jimenez

Like Jimenez, Kopech made his name with a standout 2016 season, when he threw 56 ¹⁄₃ innings, with a 2.08 ERA and 86 Ks, then put up a 2.01 ERA in the Arizona Fall League. After his trade to the White Sox, Kopech was bumped up to Birmingham at just 20 years old, and he delivered, with a 2.87 ERA and increased control as the season went on. He earned three Charlotte starts at season’s end and he struck out 17 batters in 15 innings. When he proves he can throw a changeup that sets up his high-90s fastball and high-80s slider, Kopech will join the White Sox rotation.

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Luis Robert, CF

2018 Age: 20

2017 High Level: Dominican Summer League (DSL)

Overall 2017 stats: 28 games ▪️ 3 HR ▪️ 17 RBI ▪️ 12 SB ▪️ .310/.491/.536

ZiPS MLB Projection: N/A

ZiPs Player Comp: N/A

Robert was the first big international signing from the White Sox since Jose Abreu, and the early returns indicate just as big a home run with this one. He’s shown a tendency to get banged up, however, and is currently sidelined with a thumb injury that keeps him out of action well into May, around the one-year anniversary of his signing. His early comp has pointed to a Vladimir Guerrero-type talent, although Robert projects to center field and is unlikely to golf home runs off a bounced pitch. Robert will be the primary Winston-Salem CF when he returns to action, with a promotion to Birmingham looming.

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