2023 South Side Sox Prospect Vote: Round 21

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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It took a big leapfrog from fifth place, but Kohl Simas — just like Jonathan Cannon at No. 19 before him — broke through on his 16th ballot. Simas became our No. 20-voted prospect, with the same number of votes as Cannon (29), for 21%.

Simas becomes our seventh right-handed starter, and ninth starting pitcher overall, in our Prospect Vote:

This was Simas’ first year in our Prospect Vote. A year ago, Lenyn Sosa came in as our No. 20 (he jumped up to No. 4 in 2023). In 2021, our No. 20 vote went to Luis González, and in 2020 it was Ian Hamilton.

This time around, Simas and runner-up Matthew Thompson had some separation from the pack, which sets Thompson up to become our No. 21 next round.

In his ballot, reliever Franklin Germán jumped to a tie for seventh earning 10 votes and an equal regard with fellow hard-throwing newcomer reliever to the system, Gregory Santos. Joining the ballot this round is a system veteran back for his first full season of health after lat surgery, Jonathan Stiever.

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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%)
16. Loidel Chapelli Jr. — 15% (Cannon 13%, Avila 12%, Burrowes/Thompson 10%, Simas 9%, McDougal/Santos 8%, Veras 7%, Sprinkle 6%)
17. Carlos Pérez — 16% (Cannon 15%, Thompson 14%, Avila 10%, Burrowes 9.2%, Simas 8.5%, McDougal 7.8%, Santos 7%, Veras 6.4%, Sprinkle 5.7%)
18. Tyler Schweitzer — 13% (Cannon 12.3%, Thompson 11.6%, Avila/Burrowes 10.9%, Simas 9.4%, McDougal/Santos 8.7%, Veras 8.0%, Sprinkle 6.5%)
19. Jonathan Cannon — 19% (Thompson 16%, Avila 11%, Burrowes 10%, Simas 9.3%, McDougal 8.5%, Hernández 7.8%, Santos 7.0%, Veras 6%, Sprinkle 5%)
20. Kohl Simas — 21% (Thompson 16%, Avila 11%, Burrowes/McDougal 9.2%, Hernández 8.5%, Germán/Santos 7%, Veras 6%, 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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Franklin Germán

Right-Handed Relief Pitcher
Age 25
2022 High Level Boston (MLB)
Age relative to high level -4.4 years
Overall 2022 MiLB stats 5-2 ⚾️ 43 games (31 finished) ⚾️ 7 SV ⚾️ 49 2⁄3 IP ⚾️ 2.72 ERA ⚾️ 0.906 WHIP ⚾️ 64 K ⚾️ 19 BB

Germán came over in a February 3 trade for Double-A reliever/blacksmith Theo Denlinger, tracking as our No. 41 prospect this season. (Ultimately, the deal saw the White Sox also lose our prospective No. 32 prospect, Jason Bilous, who was designated for assignment and claimed by Cleveland.) Germán has looked good so far this spring, with three scoreless innings of work; especially given some presumed IL moves, he seems to have better than a coin flip’s chance for breaking north with the big club.

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Erick Hernández

Center Fielder
Age 18
2022 SSS Top Prospect Vote 14
2022 High Level DSL (Rookie)
Age relative to high level -0.8 years
Overall 2022 stats 38 games ⚾️ 0 HR ⚾️ 8 RBI ⚾️ .227/.333/.291 ⚾️ 4-of-7 (57.1%) SB ⚾️ 17 BB ⚾️ 37 K

The most hyped amateur international signing from a year ago fell flat in the DSL in 2022. He got off to a good start and may have battle some injury, so let’s hope that was a factor in a poor year. He looks likely to repeat the DSL in 2023.

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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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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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Jonathan Stiever

Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 25
2022 High Level Charlotte (AAA)
Age relative to high level -2.0 years
Overall 2022 stats 0-0 ⚾️ 3 games (2 starts) ⚾️ 3 IP ⚾️ 0.00 ERA ⚾️ 0.000 WHIP ⚾️ 1 K ⚾️ 0 BB

Jonathan Stiever made a brief cameo at the end of 2022, having recovered from lat surgery (similar if not identical to Jake Peavy’s 10 years earlier). It is uncertain whether he is returning to Charlotte to resume a starting load of innings or out of the pen, but given some still-thin starter depth, the White Sox would certainly prefer him back in the rotation.

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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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