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The Chicago White Sox snagged first-round talent ... high first-round talent ... according to ESPN, No. 7 in the draft class talent ... with their second round pick on Thursday.
A robust start to the second day. The White Sox are never a team you’d think of first as being able to win any “bidding wars,” but I’m picturing Rick Hahn’s jaw dropping further and further as teams passed on Kelley. This was a can’t-pass pick.
Ironic, perhaps, because Kelley quarterbacked his high school football team to a state championship in Texas. And he comes from the same town as Nolan Ryan, Refugio. These two facts probably guarantee the young Kelley a place in the Texas Legislature one day.
He’s got a massive fastball that has been lauded as “effortless,” with a killer changeup as well. The slider, that necessary third pitch to succeed with the big boys ... well, the White Sox will work on that.
As a signee with the beloved Texas Longhorns, signability was the key to Kelley’s fall. The White Sox weren’t afraid to make a move for him, so that’s a plus straight off. Maybe Kelley’s ask isn’t too far out of the White Sox’s comfort zone.
The two sides have a couple of months to work it out. If there was a little bit of a lukewarm reaction to yesterday’s Garrett Crochet pick, the White Sox stepped to the plate and went balls-out in Round 2.
More to come, including the White Sox take on the selection.