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With the 124th overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, the Chicago White Sox took a chance on a college lefty from Bradley University in Brooks Gosswein.
According to the report from MLB Pipeline, the 6´2´´, left-handed pitcher has a lot of potential upside, but also comes with a ton of risk. That’s typically what you’re looking for in these rounds of the MLB draft.
He’s a local product out of Barrington, and was born in Chicago. Of course, he stayed at home for his college career, as well, with Bradley University in Peoria.
As a freshman in 2018 Gosswein posted a 3.41 ERA in 34 1⁄3 innings, with 24 strikeouts to 20 walks for a WHIP of 1.66. He moved primarily to the rotation in 2019 and had decent success with a 4.38 ERA in 63 2⁄3 innings with 51 strikeouts and a 1.35 WHIP, but he continued to struggle with the walks by issuing 36 free passes.
It was not a great start for him in 2020 before everything got shut down. And honestly, the numbers weren’t all that great in 2021, either, for somebody playing in a small conference.
Still, the White Sox took a chance on him because he can throw in the upper 90s and has a decent slider. That’s all of the tools you need to be a successful high-leverage reliever, which is where his future likely lies.
This also feels like a money-saving pick for the White Sox, who took a player who wasn’t ranked in MLB Pipeline’s top 250. The White Sox probably feel like they can sign Gosswein under the slot value of $460,000, to use some of the money saved for their higher picks or on a hail-mary lottery ticket in the late rounds.