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South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 90: Samil Polanco

This under-the-radar infielder was solid, with promise, in 2021.

By whisoxman20051917
Samil Polanco ran out of gas a bit in his longest season yet — but displayed some promising traits overall.
Tiffany Wintz/South Side Sox

Samil Polanco

Third Baseman
6´0´´
160 pounds
Age: 21
SSS rank among all third basemen in the system: 8

Shortstop was by far the deepest, and best, offensive position the DSL White Sox had in 2018, thus the White Sox were almost forced to play some of their shortstops at positions where the team’s depth was thin. Back then, Samil Polanco was a middle infielder, hitting .274/.314/.371 in 197 at-bats with one homer, 16 RBIs, 12 stolen bases, 10 walks (4.8%) and 33 strikeouts (15.7%). Defensively, he spent 56% of his time at short, with the remainder at second base, making 17 errors in his 55 games on the field.

Polanco enjoyed a similar year with the AZL Sox in 2019, as he slashed .290/.313/.369 in 40 games with seven doubles, a homer, 11 stolen bases, five walks (2.7%), 35 strikeouts (19.1%) and 84 wRC+. Of course, he lost a year of development last year due to the pandemic.

Polanco struggled a little bit in 2021 with his average, but all the other peripherals took a step in the right direction for Kannapolis in 2021. In 78 games for the Cannon Ballers totaling 308 at-bats, Polanco slashed .256/.298/.393 with 19 doubles, four triples, five homers, 15 walks (4.5%), 74 strikeouts (22.3%) and a wRC+ of 86. This was by far his longest season to date, and it showed as the year progressed: In August and September, Polanco hit just .198 and .239 respectively. Of course, Polanco’s a bit on the smaller side, so conditioning will be key if he wants to establish success over a long season. With his size, he profiles better as a second baseman/middle infielder, but his best defensive work came at the hot corner this year.

Polanco likely will begin at Winston-Salem next year, but to advance further, he may need to establish more patience at the plate.

2022 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox Prospects

90. Samil Polanco, 3B
91. Manuel Veloz, RHRP
92. Pauly Milto, RHRP
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

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