South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 51: Gunnar Troutwine

The offensive discipline is well-established; how he hones his catching skills will determine how far and fast this backstop will climb

By whisoxman20051917 Apr 25, 2019, 10:34pm CDT

**OBP machine:** Yet another offense-first catcher in the White Sox system, Troutwine is as disciplined as they come, no matter the position.

Gunnar Troutwine
6´1´´
230 pounds
Bats: Right
Age: 23
SSS rank among all catchers in the system: 4

Troutwine was the ninth round pick for the White Sox in the 2018 draft, and his hitting ability was as good as advertised. After the draft, Troutwine hit .316/.412/.419 for the Voyagers with two homers, 18 RBIs, 19 walks, and 20 strikeouts over 117 at-bats. Troutwine destroyed southpaws in an admittedly small sample size, sporting a .471/.625/.588 slash line.

Troutwine is considered a slightly below-average defensive catcher, but allowed just two passed balls during his 34 games behind the plate in 2018; he did allow 45 stolen bases on his watch, stopping attempted thefts 23.7% of the time.

Troutwine has gotten off to a gangbusters start in Kannapolis in 2019, slashing .355/.512/.548 in his first 10 games. It’s wild that three of the top 10 (if not five) hitters in the White Sox system so far in 2019 include Troutwine, Yermin Mercedes and Zack Collins, all catchers.

Defensively, Troutwine has truly struggled in the early going, with six passed balls, two errors, and just a 15.4% (2-of-13) caught stealing rate.