South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 48: Wilber Sánchez

Wilber Sánchez

Shortstop
5´10´´
160 pounds
Age: 22
2020 SSHP Top Prospect Ranking 88
2021 SSS Top Prospect Ranking: 88
2022 SSS Top Prospect Ranking 60
2022 High Level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level -0.7 years
SSS rank among all shortstops in the system 6
Overall 2022 season stats 101 games ⚾️ 2 HR ⚾️ 22 RBI ⚾️ .162/.277/.217 ⚾️ 38-of-46 (82.6%) SB ⚾️ 55 BB ⚾️ 96 K

Wilber Sánchez, a native of Venezuela, received a signing bonus from the White Sox in February 2019 with little fanfare. With that said, despite the fact that he was the lesser-known Sánchez (to Yolbert) on the DSL squad he still found a way to make a name for himself. In 52 games totaling 177 at-bats, Sánchez slashed .288/.391/.395 with 13 doubles, three triples, 25 RBIs, 13 stolen bases, 28 walks (13.5%) and 33 strikeouts (15.9%). Interestingly, he fared far better versus righties (.304/.416/.415) than he did southpaws (.238/.304/.333). Sánchez was about seven months younger than his competition, so there was nothing fluky about his stats.

AD

In 2021, after the pandemic cancellation of 2020, Sánchez acquitted himself quite well in the ACL. Despite still being nearly a year younger than his competition, he hit a respectable .269/.313/.385 in 53 games with three doubles, two homers, six stolen bases, five walks (6.0%), 23 strikeouts (27.7%) and 84 wRC+. However, after receiving a late-season promotion to Kannapolis, he struggled with the Cannon Ballers in 19 games by slashing just .200/.254/.339 with two doubles, four homers, seven walks (5.6%) and 55 strikeouts (43.7%) for a wRC+ of 60. While the strikeouts weren’t obviously what Sánchez would like, he should get a pass, as in Low-A he was more than two years younger than his competition.

The expected normalizing of Sánchez’s numbers in 2022 did not materialize, in fact taking a big step back even with a full season played in Low-A and some semblance of normalization being in the U.S. for a second full year. Sánchez almost evenly split time between second base and shortstop, and still walked at a good clip and stole bases like a dust devil — but the hitting was as woeful as possible for a professional.

Sánchez’s Baseball Cube player ratings
Speed 95
Durability 70
Runs 49
Contact 44
Hitting 37
Power 37
XBH 35
RBIs 33
Team Winning Percentage .407

It’s expected that Sánchez will return to Kannapolis in 2023, with the hopes of recognizing pitches better. With his size, he may be better suited in the utility infield role long term. However, it’s still too early to pigeonhole him to that fate. Due in part to his age, Sánchez’s sure fielding (he committed just three errors all year) and base-running prowess (he’s been successful in 68-of-82 stolen base attempts in his pro career, or 82.9%) will earn him as many chances as possible for a player with a spaghetti bat.

2023 South Side Sox Top 101 White Sox Prospects

48. Wilber Sánchez, SS
49. Tyler Neslony, LF
50. Mario Camilletti, 2B
51. Sammy Peralta, LHRP
52. Jacob Burke, CF
53. Moisés Castillo, SS
54. Victor Quezada, 3B
55. Edgar Navarro, RHRP
56. Craig Dedelow, RF
57. Darío Borrero, 1B
58. Michael Turner, C
59. Tyler Osik, 1B
60. Haylen Green, LHRP
61. Mark McLaughlin, RHRP
62. Terrell Tatum, LF
63. Shawn Goosenberg, 2B
64. Randel Mondesí, LF
65. Emerson Talavera, RHRP
66. Declan Cronin, RHRP
67. Fraser Ellard, LHRP
68. Colby Smelley, C
69. Ethan Hammerberg, RHRP
70. Lincoln Henzman, RHRP
71. Vince Vannelle, RHRP
72. Brooks Baldwin, 3B-2B
73. James Beard, CF
74. Gabriel Rodríguez, RHSP
75. Ronny Hernandez, C
76. Troy Claunch, C
77. Brooks Gosswein, LHSP
78. Tim Elko, 1B
79. Yoelvín Silven, RHRP
80. Trey Jeans, LHRP
81. Jerry Burke, RHSP
82. Carlos Jiménez, 1B
83. Mason Adams, RHSP
84. Frankeli Arias, LHSP
85. Ernesto Jaquez, RHSP
86. Laz Rivera, 3B
87. Xavier Fernández, C
88. Álvaro Agüero, CF
89. Ben Norman, RF
90. Erick Bello, RHRP
91. Adisyn Coffey, RHRP
92. Arnold Prado, RF
93. Alsander Womack, 2B
94. Johan Domínguez, RHSP
95. Evan Skoug, C
96. Noah Owen, RHSP
97. Javier Mora, 2B
98. Will Kincanon, RHRP
99. Yohemy Nolasco, RHSP
100. Billy Seidl, RHRP
101. José Rodulfo, RHRP