2023 South Side Sox Prospect Vote: Round 16

It is the sixth year of Top Prospect voting at South Side Sox!

Here’s how 2018 wrangled out — all 42 picks. Also, here’s an archive of every article in the 2018 series. Here’s how 2019 came together, all 50 picks, and the archive as well. Here’s 2020, with the archive. Here’s the 2021 wrap-up of just 35 picks due to flagging participation, along with the full archive. And here’s the 2022 link to the 27-pick wrap, along with the full archive.

Despite cutting short our Top 50 voting last year, some seasons we’ve gotten upwards of 15,000 votes. So thanks in advance for your participation!

Our No. 100 prospect was a late substitution, Luke Shilling, so he’s not yet up on site. But we do aim to run the Top 100 count-up on a daily basis, and have prospect votes every couple of days.

Unlike last year, our writers agree on a No. 1 prospect. Will you as well?

Just five of 10 players from last year’s initial prospect vote poll show up this time around, with only one (Jake Burger) dropping off after losing his rookie/prospect status. So there is some ballot churn here.

Also note something sort of miraculous, and a tribute to a steady climb through the system: Lenyn Sosa is spending his SIXTH year on our top prospect lists — and is still very young!

All right, let’s have some fun. And get voting!

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For a franchise that has recognized its dearth of pitching, particularly starting pitching, it is encouraging that five of its Top 15 voted prospects are right-handed starters (six total starters, including last year’s first-rounder Noah Schultz). Jared Kelley was the fifth, winning the No. 15 spot with 18.5% (31 of 168 votes) in close balloting.

Kelley continues a recent trend of fallen prospects, as he was the No. 5-voted prospect in 2021 and No. 11 in 2022. A year ago, the No. 15-voted prospect was Matthew Thompson, who is struggling to gain traction on the current ballot.

Recent Rule 5 pick Nick Avila leapfrogged Jonathan Cannon as enters Round 16 as the favorite. Ryan Burrowes also made a nice jump, while Gregory Santos finally escaped the basement — replaced by newcomer to the ballot, Jordan Sprinkle.

Joining the ballot this round is Brett’s favorite prospect, Loidel Chapelli Jr.

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South Side Sox Top-Voted White Sox Prospects for 2023

1. Oscar Colás — 57% (Montgomery 35%, Ramos/Sosa 3%, Rodríguez 1%, Mena/Pallette/Schultz 0.5%, Burke/Vera 0%)
2. Colson Montgomery — 71% (Sosa 9%, Ramos 5%, Rodríguez 4.4%, Mena 3.7%, Vera 3%, Céspedes 2%, Pallette/Schultz 1%, Burke 0%)
3. Bryan Ramos — 29% (Sosa 25%, Vera 12.3%, Rodríguez 11.7%, Schultz 9%, Mena 8%, Burke/Pallette 2%, Céspedes 1%, Kath 0%)
4. Lenyn Sosa — 43% (Rodríguez 25%, Vera 16%, Mena/Schultz 6%, Céspedes 2%, Kath/Pallette 1%, Burke/Cannon 0%)
5. José Rodríguez — 40.5% (Vera 22.3%, Mena 14.0%, Schultz 9.1%, Céspedes 5.0%, Burke 3.3%, Kath/Pallette 2.5%,/Cannon 0.8%, Simas 0.0%)
6. Noah Schultz — 34% (Vera 26%, Mena 17%, Céspedes/Mieses 7%, Kath 5%, Burke 2.4%, Pallette 1.6%, Cannon/Simas 0.0%)
7. Norge Vera — 30% (Kath 29%, Mena 20%, Pallette 5%, Mieses 4.3%, Céspedes 3.7%, Kelley 2.9%, Burke 2.2%, Cannon 1.5%, Simas 0.7%)
8. Cristian Mena — 27% (Kath 19%, Pallette 11%, Mieses 8%, Céspedes 7.2%, Kelley 6.6%, Burke 6.1%, Cannon 5.5%, Simas 5.0%, Burrowes 4.4%)
9. Wes Kath — 23% (Mieses/Pallette 14%, Burke/Céspedes 12%, Kelley 10%, Cannon 7%, Simas 3%, Burrowes 2%, Santos 1%)
10. Luis Mieses — 18% (Pallette 14.4%, Burke 13.9%, Céspedes 13.3%, Kelley 12.8%, Cannon 12%, Sánchez 6%, Simas 4%, Burrowes 3.3%, Santos 2.8%)
11. Peyton Pallette — 20% (Burke 16%, Sánchez 12.0%, Céspedes 11.6%, Kelley 11.1%, Cannon 7%, Simas 6.2%, Burrowes 5.8%, Veras 5.3% Santos 4.9%)
12. Sean Burke — 26% (Sánchez 14%, Céspedes 13%, Kelley 12%, Cannon 8%, Simas 7%, Burrowes 6.4%, Veras 5.7%, Thompson 5.0%, Santos 4.3%)
13. Yolbert Sánchez — 18% (Céspedes 16%, Kelley 14%, Cannon 9.3%, Burrowes 8.7%, Simas/Thompson 8.0%, McDougal 7%, Veras 6%, Santos 5%)
14. Yoelqui Céspedes — 25% (Kelley 16%, Cannon 12%, Avila 9%, Simas/Thompson 8%, McDougal 7%, Burrowes 6%, Veras 5%, Santos 4%)
15. Jared Kelley — 18% (Avila 17%, Cannon 15%, Burrowes 9%, Simas 8.3%, McDougal 7.7%, Thompson 7.1%, Santos 6.6%, Veras 6.0%, Sprinkle 5%)

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Nick Avila

Right-Handed Relief Pitcher
Age 25
2022 High Level Richmond (AA)
Age relative to high level -0.5 years
Overall 2022 stats 4-2 ⚾️ 47 games ⚾️ 55 1⁄3 IP ⚾️ 1.14 ERA ⚾️ 0.976 WHIP ⚾️ 58 K ⚾️ 14 BB

The White Sox are gambling that Nick Avila can make the jump from San Francisco Double-A pitcher to the South Side bullpen, selecting him in December’s Rule 5 draft (and thus needing to roster him all season long, or offer him back to the Giants). The righty appears up to it, with scintillating numbers last year, split between High-A and Double-A. He was a 2019 26th-rounder, so Avila qualifies as 2023’s Tanner Banks Improbable Breakthrough clubhouse leader.

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Ryan Burrowes

Shortstop
Age 18
2022 High Level DSL (Rookie)
Age relative to high level -0.8 years
Overall 2022 stats 47 games ⚾️ 3 HR ⚾️ 18 RBI ⚾️ .266/.393/.392 ⚾️ 12-of-12 SB ⚾️ 25 BB ⚾️ 34 K

It says a lot that this shortstop is more highly-ranked than Loidell Chapelli Jr., who absolutely tore up the DSL in 2022. Certainly Burrowes being age-appropriate for the DSL and exhibiting durability and smarts for the season played a big role in that. As all DSL seasons tend to be, there’s a small sample size here, but it will be exciting to see what Burrowes can do Stateside in 2023.

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Jonathan Cannon

Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 22
2022 High Level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level -0.7 years
Overall 2022 pro stats 0-0 ⚾️ 4 games (3 starts) ⚾️ 7 1⁄3 IP ⚾️ 1.23 ERA ⚾️ 0.955 WHIP ⚾️ 4 K ⚾️ 3 BB

The big (6´6´´) Georgian was the club’s third-rounder in 2022, getting his feet wet as a pro but really getting down to business looking ahead to 2023. Anticipate a cup of coffee in Kanny, if not an outright straight assignment right to Winston-Salem. There is room to move fast as a starter in the White Sox system.

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Loidel Chapelli Jr.

Second Baseman
Age 21
2022 High Level DSL (Rookie)
Age relative to high level +2.2 years
Overall 2022 stats 46 games ⚾️ 8 HR ⚾️ 29 RBI ⚾️ .344/.448/.636 ⚾️ 10-of-13 (76.9%) SB ⚾️ 27 BB ⚾️ 22 K

Yes, Loidell Chapelli Jr. absolutely tore up the DSL in 2022 — but as gaudy as the numbers above read (1.084 OPS!), there’s the matter of him playing way below his grade. Let’s hope Chapelli bullying his DSL opponents yields more of a Luis Robert rise through the system than Benyamín Bailey.

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Tanner McDougal

Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 19
2022 SSS poll ranking 25
2021 High Level Arizona (Rookie)
Age relative to high level -2.9 years
Overall 2021 pro stats 1-2 ⚾️ 6 games (4 starts) ⚾️ 9 2⁄3 IP ⚾️ 9.31 ERA ⚾️ 1.552 WHIP ⚾️ 17 K ⚾️ 5 BB

McDougal was a plum pick in the 2021 draft, but before he could finish his abbreviated first pro year, injured his arm, necessitating Tommy John surgery. After missing all of 2022, McDougal is back throwing. He was a very promising arm two years ago, and no injury should change that; even given post-TJS caution, Tanner could burn through Single-A.

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Gregory Santos

Right-Handed Relief Pitcher
Age 23
2022 High Level San Francisco (MLB)
Age relative to high level -7.2
Overall 2022 MiLB stats 1-2 ⚾️ 35 games (2 starts) ⚾️ 35 IP ⚾️ 4.63 ERA ⚾️ 37 K ⚾️ 20 BB ⚾️ 1.457 WHIP

Nothing I can tell you that Malachi Hayes won’t do better with his breaking analysis on Gregory Santos after he was acquired for Kade McClure back in December. But a positive bullet point: Santos broke camp with the Giants in 2022 but pitching in just two games before demotion. And two negatives: Santos has a monster arm that’s wild, and he was suspended for PEDs in 2021. South Side bullpen is up for grabs, Greg!

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Kohl Simas

Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 23
2022 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -2.4 years
Overall 2022 stats 2-2 ⚾️ 22 games (15 starts) ⚾️ 68 IP ⚾️ 4.24 ERA ⚾️ 1.324 WHIP ⚾️ 82 K ⚾️ 29 BB

Kohl, son of former White Sox reliever Bill Simas, was an undrafted free agent in 2021 who hit the ground running in the White Sox organization and hasn’t looked back. He is the only UDFA to have been part of Project Birmingham, called up as part of a later wave and seeing action in six games.

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Jordan Sprinkle

Shortstop
Age 22
2022 High Level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level +0.3 years
Overall 2022 pro stats 27 games ⚾️ 1 HR ⚾️ 4 RBI ⚾️ .255/.331/.311 ⚾️ 9-of-10 (90.0%) SB ⚾️ 9 BB ⚾️ 24 K

A burner from UC-Santa Barbara, the White Sox snagged Jordan Sprinkle in the fourth round last year, and he made a little hay in his brief time as a pro. He will need to beef up his slugging and/or on-base to get on the legit prospect track, but his defense and smarts are already turning heads.

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Matthew Thompson

Right-handed starting pitcher
Age 22
2020 SSS poll ranking 12
2021 SSS poll ranking 10
2022 SSS poll ranking 15
2022 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -3.4 years
Overall 2022 stats 4-7 ⚾️ 25 starts ⚾️ 109 2⁄3 IP ⚾️ 4.84 ERA ⚾️ 1.350 WHIP ⚾️ 104 K ⚾️ 40 BB

Matthew Thompson, has yet to quite catch up with his level, young at every stop and never getting to the point of dominating. That said, he showed out OK in what was a very bold competitive promotion to Birmingham (Project Birmingham) and has distinguished himself as the most promising arm of the Thompson-Dalquist-Kelley triumvirate. He scored a major-league camp invite to 2023 Spring Training.

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Wilfred Veras

First Baseman
Age 20
2022 SSS poll ranking 18
2022 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -5.1 years
Overall 2022 stats 113 games ⚾️ 20 HR ⚾️ 72 RBI ⚾️ .267/.318/.462 ⚾️ 5-for-5 SB ⚾️ 30 BB ⚾️ 132 K

Wilfred Veras was one of just a handful of White Sox players to top the 20-homer mark in 2022, and he did it while playing far younger than his level — even far down the rungs, at Low-A Kannapolis. Not a fielder to speak of despite being listed at both first and third base, Veras’ bat will carry him. He clubbed well enough even during Project Birmingham that he could not only start 2023 with the Barons, but see Charlotte this summer.

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