If you’re unsure of what this is, read our Top Prospect Vote primer.
About 100 votes in, it was looking like quite a battle between Andrew Vaughn and Garrett Crochet for the No. 1 spot. But no sooner had Brett sent out a tweet informing the voting public of this close race did Vaughn begin to pull away. The first baseman ended up with 45% support (227 of 510 votes).
Still, this was the closest battle for No. 1 we’ve had in the history of this poll.
In 2018, Eloy Jiménez was also named our top prospect, with 70% of the vote. The next year, he won with 86% of the vote. And for the 2020 poll, Luis Robert won with 86% of the vote.
Last year, Vaughn finished fourth in Top Prospect voting and as our No. 3 overall prospect.
South Side Sox Top White Sox Prospects for 2021
- Andrew Vaughn — 45% (Crochet 26%, Kopech 19%, Madrigal 9%, Kelley 1.0%, Rutherford 0.6%, Adolfo/Sheets 0.2% Stiever/Thompson 0%)
Micker Adolfo
Right Fielder
Age 24
2018 SSS poll ranking 10
2019 SSS poll ranking 7
2020 SSS poll ranking 11
2019 High Level Birmingham (AA) (participated at the Schaumburg alternate site in 2020)
Overall 2019 stats 36 games ▪️ 2 HR ▪️ 12 RBI ▪️ .227/.346/.367 ▪️ 21 BB ▪️ 57 BB
Adolfo missed the first half of 2019 recovering from arm surgery and only DHed in the minor league season. All 10 of his Arizona Fall League games were spent in right field, however, with one error and one assist.
Yoelkis Céspedes
Right Fielder
Age 23
2018 SSS poll ranking N/A
2019 SSS poll ranking N/A
2020 SSS poll ranking N/A
2019 High Level Cuba (Canadian-American Association)
Overall 2018-19 stats 28 games ▪️ 0 HR ▪️ 7 RBI ▪️ 2 BB ▪️ 24 K ▪️ 2-for-2 SB
Céspedes defected from Cuba on June 25, 2019, while playing for Team Cuba during a Can-Am game in Toledo, Ohio. He has not played competitively since then. Baseball America broke the news on Dec. 22, 2020 that Céspedes had agreed to a $2 million contract with the White Sox, to be announced in mid-January.
Garrett Crochet
Left-handed pitcher
Age 23
2018 SSS poll ranking N/A
2019 SSS poll ranking N/A
2020 SSS poll ranking N/A
2020 High Level Chicago White Sox
Overall 2020 stats (projected to a full season) 0-0 ▪️ 14 games ▪️ 16 1⁄3 IP ▪️ 0.8 bWAR ▪️ 0.00 ERA ▪️ 22 K ▪️ 0 BB ▪️ 0.000 WHIP
Jared Kelley
Right-handed starting pitcher
Age 19
2018 SSS poll ranking N/A
2019 SSS poll ranking N/A
2020 SSS poll ranking N/A
2020 High Level Schaumburg alternate site
Overall 2020 stats 3-0 ▪️ 3 starts ▪️ 12 IP ▪️ 0.00 ERA ▪️ 34 K
Stats are for Kelley’s shortened season at Refugio (Texas) H.S.; in his prep career, Kelley went 32-3 with a 0.43 ERA
Michael Kopech
Right-handed starting pitcher
Age 26
2018 SSS poll ranking 2
2019 SSS poll ranking 2
2020 SSS poll ranking 2
2018 High Level Chicago White Sox
Overall 2018 stats 8-8 ▪️ 28 starts ▪️ 140 IP ▪️ 3.86 ERA ▪️ 185 K ▪️ 62 BB ▪️ 1.307 WHIP
Kopech sat out 2019 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and opted out of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nick Madrigal
Second Baseman
Age 24
2018 SSS poll ranking N/A
2019 SSS poll ranking 5
2020 SSS poll ranking 3
2020 High Level Chicago White Sox
Overall 2020 stats (projected to a full season) 78 games ▪️ 1.4 bWAR ▪️ 0 HR ▪️ 30 RBI ▪️ .340/.376/.369 ▪️ 5-of-8 SB ▪️ 11 BB ▪️ 19 K
Blake Rutherford
Right Fielder
Age 24
2018 SSS poll ranking 9
2019 SSS poll ranking 8
2020 SSS poll ranking 10
2019 High Level Birmingham (AA) (participated at the Schaumburg alternate site in 2020)
Overall 2019 stats 118 games ▪️ 7 HR ▪️ 49 RBI ▪️ .265/.319/.365 ▪️ 9-of-11 SB ▪️ 37 BB ▪️ 118 K
Gavin Sheets
First Baseman
Age 24
2018 SSS poll ranking 15
2019 SSS poll ranking 11
2020 SSS poll ranking 9
2019 High Level Birmingham (AA) (was not invited to participate at the Schaumburg alternate site in 2020)
Overall 2019 stats 126 games ▪️ 16 HR ▪️ 83 RBI ▪️ .267/.345/.414 ▪️ 54 BB ▪️ 99 K
Jonathan Stiever
Right-handed starting pitcher
Age 24
2018 SSS poll ranking N/A
2019 SSS poll ranking 27
2020 SSS poll ranking 7
2020 High Level Chicago White Sox
Overall 2020 stats (projected to a full season) 0-3 ▪️ 5 starts ▪️ 17 IP ▪️ -0.8 bWAR ▪️ 9.95 ERA ▪️ 8 K ▪️ 11 BB ▪️ 1.737 WHIP
Matthew Thompson
Right-handed Starting Pitcher
Age 20
2018 SSS poll ranking N/A
2019 SSS poll ranking N/A
2020 SSS poll ranking 12
2019 High Level Arizona (Rookie) (participated at the Schaumburg alternate site in 2020)
Overall 2019 stats 13-0 ▪️ 17 games (8 starts) ▪️ 2 CG ▪️ 1 SHO ▪️ 74 ⅔ IP ▪️ 0.82 ERA ▪️ 126 K ▪️ 41 BB ▪️ 0.884 WHIP
Poll
Who is the second-best prospect in the White Sox system?
This poll is closed
-
0%
Micker Adolfo
-
3%
Yoelkis Céspedes
-
41%
Garrett Crochet
-
0%
Jared Kelley
-
38%
Michael Kopech
-
14%
Nick Madrigal
-
0%
Blake Rutherford
-
0%
Gavin Sheets
-
0%
Jonathan Stiever
-
0%
Matthew Thompson