Draft Prospects You Should Know: Sammy Siani

When you have the No. 3 overall pick, it’s never too soon to take a quick peek into this year’s MLB draft. This year’s draft class is loaded with excellent hitting prospects, but is relatively weak on the pitching side.

Draft Prospects You Should Know is a new series that features prospects who the White Sox could pursue in this year’s draft. As the June draft nears, we’ll return to many of these athletes and provide updates on whether their stocks are rising (or falling).

Age listed as of Day One of the Draft (June 3).

Sammy Siani

Penn Charter H.S. (Philadelphia)
Outfielder
Age 18
Bats Right
Throws Right

Rankings

Baseball America 45
MLB 41
FanGraphs 54

If that last name sounds familiar, it probably should. Siani’s older brother, Mike, was selected in the fourth round of last year’s Draft and is ranked among the Top 10 prospects in the Cincinnati Reds system. Unsurprisingly Sammy’s tools are quite similar, albeit slightly lesser, than that of his older brother’s. However, many scouts believe Sammy’s swing is actually a bit better.

Sammy made a name for himself last summer in tournament showcases along the East Coast. He’s got above-average speed and solid hitting ability despite a relatively diminutive size of 5´11´´, 175 pounds. MLB gives Siani grades of 55 for running and hitting, 50 for arm and fielding, and 45 for power. With his easy bat speed, PerfectGame projects plus power for Siani as he fills out.

PerfectGame also stated that “he has above-average athletic actions in the outfield, moves well to the ball and gets behind it, fields cleanly and uses lower half well to generate power on his accurate throws to target”. Thus, despite not having a cannon arm, Siani makes the most of what he has. Verbally committed to Duke, Siani has profile as a center fielder, with the flexibility to move to left if necessary down the road.

Siani strikes me as a classic fourth outfielder, with the chance of perhaps more if can eventually develop his power. The closest White Sox comp may be Steele Walker, who was drafted in last year’s second round. As evidenced by his rankings among various sites, Siani may be available when the White Sox make their second selection — which is 45th overall. It’s conceivable that the White Sox could indeed consider Siani in this upcoming draft in the second round, but would prefer a more high-ceiling prospect to fall to them there.

Previously, on Draft Prospects You Should Know

C.J. Abrams, Blessed Trinity (Ga.) H.S. SS
Hunter Bishop, Arizona State OF
Cameron Cannon, Arizona 2B/3B
Matt Canterino, Rice RHSP
Matt Cronin, Arkansas LHRP
Emmanuel Dean, Servite (Calif.) H.S. OF
Tyler Dyson, Florida RHSP
Daniel Espino, Georgia Premier Academy RHSP
Dominic Fletcher, Arkansas OF
Jonathan French, Parkview (Ga.) H.S. C
Ethan Hearn, Mobile Christian (Ala.) H.S. C
Zack Hess, Louisiana State RHSP
Rece Hinds, IMG Baseball Academy (Fla.) 3B
Jason Hodges, Marist (Ill.) H.S. OF-1B
Will Holland, Auburn SS
Seth Johnson, Oregon RHSP
Jack Leiter, Delbarton (N.J.) H.S. RHSP
Nick Lodolo, TCU, LHSP
Alek Manoah, West Virginia RHSP
Erik Miller, Stanford LHSP
Chris Newell, Malvern (Pa.) Prep H.S. OF
Kyren Paris, Freedom (Calif.) H.S. SS
Quinn Priester, Cary-Grove (Ill.) H.S. RHSP
Adley Rutschman, Oregon State C
Landon Sims, South Forsyth (Ga.) H.S., RHSP
Josh Smith, Louisiana State SS
Matthew Thompson, Cypress Ranch (Texas) H.S. RHSP
Andrew Vaughn, California, 1B
Matt Wallner, Southern Miss OF
Kenyon Yovan, Oregon RHSP
Ryan Zeferjahn, Kansas RHSP