Tyler Osik
First Baseman
5´10´´
203 pounds
Age: 25
SSS rank among all first basemen in the system: 4
2020 South Side Hit Pen Top Prospect: 63
2021 South Side Sox Top Prospect: 47
Tyler Osik, son of former Pittsburgh Pirate Keith Osik, took a circuitous route through college. After spending his freshman year with Division II Coker College, he spent his sophomore campaign with Chipola Junior College (Fla.). He then transferred to the University of Central Florida for his junior and senior years. Of his two seasons with the Knights, Osik enjoyed a better year during his senior campaign in 2019 as he slashed .325/.410/.542 in 52 games with 14 doubles, 10 homers, 39 RBIs, nine stolen bases, 26 walks (11.1%) and 50 strikeouts (21.3%).
As a culmination of his efforts, the White Sox selected him in the 27th round of 2019’s MLB draft. While Osik did reasonably well that year with the AZL White Sox to start his professional career (.271/.346/.373 with 10 doubles in 31 games), he began hitting for power upon his promotion to Kannapolis on August 3. In 26 games totaling 97 at-bats for the Intimidators, he slashed .278/.352/.557 with 10 doubles, a triple, five homers, 19 RBIs, 10 walks (9.3%) and 30 strikeouts (27.8%).
While many athletes simply took the year off thanks to Covid-19, Osik worked extremely hard to hone his catching skills in 2020, as suggested by Dan Victor’s Under the Radar piece at South Side Hit Pen.
His early results in 2021 were understandably shaky, with seven passed balls in nine games, but he did throw out three of 14 potential base stealers. Catching’s easily the most difficult position to play, but Osik definitely showed enough promise to merit further development.
In the meantime, he also played 23 games of flawless first base prior to season-ending injuries which prematurely derailed his season. Offensively, Osik slashed .189/.298/.278 in 90 at-bats with five doubles, a homer, 12 walks and 24 strikeouts split between Kannapolis and Winston-Salem.
Provided he’s healthy to begin the 2022 campaign, Osik likely would begin the season with Winston-Salem, with an early promotion to Birmingham if all goes well.
2022 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox Prospects
89. Tyler Osik, 1B
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