South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 93: Fraser Ellard

Fraser Ellard

Left-Handed Relief Pitcher
6´4´´
205 pounds
Age: 24
SSS rank among all left-handed relief pitchers in the system: 9

While a senior for King’s Ridge Christian School in Alpharetta, Ga., Fraser Ellard posted a 7-1 record and 1.12 ERA as a senior. After spending a year with Truett-McConnell CC (Cleveland, Ga.), Ellard spent the next three years pitching for tiny Lander University (Greenwood, S.C.), where as a senior he posted an impressive 1.38 ERA in 26 innings as a starter before the pandemic shutdown. Ellard transferred to Liberty University as a redshirt senior and posted a 3.65 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 26 outings while striking out 63 in 44 1⁄3 innings. The White Sox liked him enough to select him in the eighth round of the 2021 draft.

While performing well in an abbreviated three-game stint with the ACL Sox, Ellard struggled a bit with Kannapolis, posting a 4.96 ERA and 1.73 WHIP in 11 appearances. In 16 1⁄3 innings for the Cannon Ballers, he surrendered 19 hits (.275 OBA) and 10 walks (12.3%) while fanning 21 (25.9%). He doesn’t possess blazing stuff, but he does have a fairly deceptive delivery that hides the ball until just the last moment.

Ellard has had difficulties with his control (15.8% college walk rate), so his ability to harness it may determine how far he advances. While his numbers didn’t approach those of his lefty 2021 draft peers, Ellard likely still will begin 2022 with Winston-Salem, as he was more than a year older than his Low-A competition in 2021.

2022 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox Prospects

93. Fraser Ellard, LHRP
94. Colby Smelley, C
95. Manuel Guariman, C
96. Everhett Hazelwood, RHRP
97. Garrett Schoenle, LHRP
98. Kyle Kubat, LHRP
99. Anderson Comas, RF
100. Jake Elliott, RHRP