South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 20: Seby Zavala

Seby Zavala
5´11´´
215 pounds
Bats: Right
Age: 25
2018 Top Prospect Rank: 16
SSS rank among all catchers in the system: 2

In 2018, Zavala had a fairly uneven year with Birmingham and Charlotte. He started off really well with the Barons, hitting .315/.411/.616 in April, with six homers and 19 RBI in just 73 at-bats. However, because of a nagging wrist injury that sapped his production the rest of the year, Zavala’s results were relatively pedestrian afterward.

With that said, he did earn a promotion to Charlotte last June, due to a combination of his hitting abilities and improved defensive prowess. He hit .271/.358/.472 with 11 homers, 31 RBIs, 27 walks and 65 strikeouts in 199 at-bats with Birmingham; for Charlotte, he hit .243/.267/.359 with two homers, 20 RBIs, six walks and 44 strikeouts in 181 at-bats. Zavala also threw out 32.7% of attempted base stealers in 2018.

In 2019 at Charlotte, Zavala has again battled some nicks and bruises, slashing .218/.253/.506 in 21 games. Despite that woeful offensive production early, six of his 19 hits have been homers, and he’s managed 18 RBIs in 21 games for a high-powered Charlotte offense. His defensive numbers may be down a tick as well, allowing a stolen base per game (15 steals in 15 games behind the plate) and cutting down just 25% of baserunners while committing two errors and two passed balls.

With the injured list status of Welington Castillo, the White Sox called Zavala up on May 25 to serve as the backstop backup to James McCann.

Take a look!

Thanks to 2080 Baseball for the film!

Video courtesy of FanGraphs.

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