PolishPrince34 Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 Quote Chicago White Sox The White Sox took the best left-handed pitcher in the draft in Arkansas ace Hagen Smith (1), who finished second in Division I in strikeouts and produced one of the most dominant pitching performances scouts have ever seen in his 17-strikeout outing against Oregon State in February. He’s 92-97 with a plus slider, coming from a lower three-quarters slot with a funky delivery and starts all the way on the extreme first-base side of the rubber, making him tougher on lefties but also making it harder for him to get to his glove side. I think he has No. 2 starter upside but there’s some development required. I was surprised to hear Caleb Bonemer (2) get picked after a down spring that sparked rumors the Michigan prep product would just go to Virginia, but you could also argue that the White Sox got a guy who was a clear first-rounder coming into the year and are taking advantage of a buy-low opportunity. He’s got plus power and above-average speed, with a dead-pull approach even as he’s changed his swing mechanics multiple times in search of better results. He’s a shortstop now but probably moves to third or second. Law's breakdown: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5640375/2024/07/18/mlb-draft-2024-american-league-report/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolishPrince34 Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 Just now, PolishPrince34 said: Chicago White Sox The White Sox took the best left-handed pitcher in the draft in Arkansas ace Hagen Smith (1), who finished second in Division I in strikeouts and produced one of the most dominant pitching performances scouts have ever seen in his 17-strikeout outing against Oregon State in February. He’s 92-97 with a plus slider, coming from a lower three-quarters slot with a funky delivery and starts all the way on the extreme first-base side of the rubber, making him tougher on lefties but also making it harder for him to get to his glove side. I think he has No. 2 starter upside but there’s some development required. I was surprised to hear Caleb Bonemer (2) get picked after a down spring that sparked rumors the Michigan prep product would just go to Virginia, but you could also argue that the White Sox got a guy who was a clear first-rounder coming into the year and are taking advantage of a buy-low opportunity. He’s got plus power and above-average speed, with a dead-pull approach even as he’s changed his swing mechanics multiple times in search of better results. He’s a shortstop now but probably moves to third or second. Florida prep pitcher Blake Larson(2A) is another low-slot left-hander — the White Sox do have a type — who’s very projectable, 92-94 already with a tight slider that should be plus in time, although his delivery looks like it will put stress on the shoulder and he may need some help cleaning it up for durability and control. Nick McLain is the younger brother of the Reds’ Matt McLain. (Zac BonDurant / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Nick McLain (3), the younger brother of Reds infielder Matt McLain, took off this year once he was fully recovered from a hand injury from last year, hitting .342/.457/.663 with more walks than strikeouts for Arizona State. He plays very hard and scouts say he’ll get the most out of his tools, for what that’s worth. Once he got going, he had one of the better swings in the draft, with a Barrel rate in the top 5 percent of the class. The main concern is he hasn’t shown he can hit good velocity, without a hit on anything registered over 93 this spring, while he’ll expand the zone somewhat against offspeed stuff. Virginia outfielder Casey Saucke (4) won’t turn 21 until a week after the draft, so he’s one of the younger college players in the class. He’s got some bat speed and power but his hand load is so high and deep that he has real timing issues. He also expands the zone way too easily when he gets to two strikes. He’s probably an extra outfielder but does have everyday upside with some serious approach work. ADVERTISEMENT Infielder Sam Antonacci (5) transferred from JUCO to Coastal Carolina this spring and hit .367/.523/.504 for the Chanticleers, with an extremely high contact rate on pitches in the zone and a swing that’s consistently in the ideal launch angle range, allowing him to get more out of his contact than you’d otherwise guess from his fringy power. He’s played short, third, and second over the last three springs and summers but isn’t great at any of them and may end up in left field. Pitt right-hander Phil Fox (7) transferred from Gardner-Webb this spring and apparently purified himself in the waters of the Monongahela, going from a 15 percent walk rate in 2023 in the Big South to a 2.1 percent walk rate this year in the ACC. He reduced his glove tap, started getting down the hill a little faster, and went from throwing about 75 percent fastballs to over 90 percent fastballs. He’s 91-94 and does have at least an average slider. It’s straight relief but I’d like to see him get to Double A quickly to see how this all plays against pro hitters, because I don’t think you’re waiting on anything here to get him more ready for a middle reliever role in the majors. Keith Law Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxAce Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 1 hour ago, PolishPrince34 said: Pitt right-hander Phil Fox (7) transferred from Gardner-Webb this spring and apparently purified himself in the waters of the Monongahela Hahahaha nice Dave Chappelle reference from Law. Just scored some brownie points with me there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestEddy Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 FutureSox podcast breaking down the individual picks. Nice listen: https://www.futuresox.net/2024/07/18/futuresox-ru-draft-analysis-special/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 (edited) BA posted it's draft reviews for each team. https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/chicago-white-sox-2024-mlb-draft-review/ Quote Draft Theme: Low Slot/Release Point Arms Given how Noah Schultz has panned out, why not find more pitchers who share some of his traits? A number of the pitchers the White Sox selected this year throw from lower arm slots, starting with lefthander Hagen Smith (who many scouts viewed as the best overall pitcher in the class) at No. 5, but also including supplemental second rounder LHP Blake Larson, seventh round RHP Phil Fox and ninth round RHP Jack Young. In fact, seven of the college pitchers the White Sox drafted who we have pitching data for have release heights on their four-seam fastballs lower than six feet. Quote Most Interesting Day 2 Pick: RHP Phil Fox, 7th round Fox is a smaller 5-foot-9, 183-pound righthander who had Tommy John surgery in 2022, then returned to pitch for Gardner-Webb in 2023 before transferring to Pittsburgh in 2024, where he pitched well out of the bullpen with a 1.47 ERA and a 45-3 K-BB mark in 36.2 innings. It’s an extremely fastball-heavy approach—he often threw 90% fastballs in his outings—with a heater that sits in the low-90s and touches 95 mph. Fox sinks into his legs in his delivery, producing a low release height with a fastball that he uses to attack hitters up in the zone and throws strikes at a high clip with that pitch. Fox does show some feel to spin a low-80s slider and at times will get good fade on his 82-85 mph changeup, with the slider the more promising pitch, but he will have to bring along his secondary stuff and use them more often to have success in pro ball. Also notes Lyle Miller Green as the most interesting Day 3 pick. Edited July 19 by DirtySox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 15 minutes ago, DirtySox said: BA posted it's draft reviews for each team. https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/chicago-white-sox-2024-mlb-draft-review/ Also notes Lyle Miller Green as the most interesting Day 3 pick. The FutureSox podcast called LMG the 2nd highest power potential behind Cags. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 Wow that's a big risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptatc Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 5 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said: Wow that's a big risk. Yeah, those are crazy numbers when the likelihood of any of them having an impact at the MLB level is relatively low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmy U Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 Just now, Timmy U said: Wow, less than Burns did. That's wild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmy U Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 I think the Reds either had Burns #1 on their board or they are suckers. Maybe both? Burns getting more than Skenes is kinda crazy, but it is still way less than either would have gotten as unrestricted amateur free agents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 The #3 pick also outdid #1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2Jimmy0 Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 Burns and Condon have same agent. He broke the record with both guys. I was told on Sunday that Oakland had a predraft deal with Kurtz and that Bazzana was falling to 5 if he didn’t go 1. That’s why he took a haircut at 1. KC and STL were also bidding on Smith so I’m very curious to see the actual bonus there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago White Sox Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 (edited) I fully get the don’t use one publication to evaluate a draft thinking, but only drafting 10 of the top 500 on BA’s list is not a great sign. Especially when it seems like several of our non senior selections on day 2 were mild reaches. Edited July 21 by Chicago White Sox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2Jimmy0 Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 11 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said: I fully get the don’t use one publication to evaluate a draft thinking, but only drafting 10 of the top 500 on BA’s list is not a great sign. Especially when it seems like several of our non senior selections on day 2 were mild reaches. What’s a normal amount? I think Jackson Appel and Phil Fox as money savers are fine and I like the 11th rounder. He should be ranked. Was kind of surprised that the 12th rounder wasn’t ranked as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago White Sox Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said: What’s a normal amount? I think Jackson Appel and Phil Fox as money savers are fine and I like the 11th rounder. He should be ranked. Was kind of surprised that the 12th rounder wasn’t ranked as well. In theory each team should land 16 or 17. And I’m not going to lose sleep if we missed out on a couple guys in the 400’s in a weak draft, but I’m not a huge fan of what we did on day 2. Very little upside and not even one standout prospect IMO. Last year we had Keener & Wolkow as immediate top 30 prospects and the year before we had Cannon. McLain in particular was a very disappointing third round pick. I hope he proves me wrong and Shirley probably deserves the benefit of the doubt here, but I’m just not a fan of the tweener OF profile that high in the draft. Overall, it just doesn’t feel like we got $15M of talent across all three days and the lack of one more big overslot pick somewhere reinforces that. Edited July 21 by Chicago White Sox 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestEddy Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 4 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said: In theory each team should land 16 or 17. And I’m not going to lose sleep if we missed out on a couple guys in the 400’s in a weak draft, but I’m not a huge fan of what we did on day 2. Very little upside and not even one standout prospect IMO. Last year we had Keener & Wolkow as immediate top 30 prospects and the year before we had Cannon. McLain in particular was a very disappointing third round pick. I hope he proves me wrong and Shirley probably deserves the benefit of the doubt here, but I’m just not a fan of the tweener OF profile that high in the draft. Overall, it just doesn’t feel like we got $15M of talent across all three days and the lack of one more big overslot pick somewhere reinforces that. There were 54 MLB ranked kids who went undrafted. Most of them are high schoolers and college sophomores. If they're pie in the sky on their bonus, and they're the 150th ranked prospect in a weak draft class, why not gamble on weirdo reach prospects who have room to grow instead of gumming up the works with unrealistic tweeners? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmy U Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 Here's my prediction for Kanny's line up the last month. Part of this is that I'm predicting Nishida finally goes to W-S. 1. *Antonacci, 2b 2. # McClain lf/dh 3. Miller-Green, 1b/dh 4. *Ronny Hernandez, c 5. Saucke, rfdh/1b? 6. Wolkow, cf-rf/dh 7. Arxy Hernandez, 3b 8. Burrowes/Sanchez, ss 9. *Archer, cf. I think McCants will get a lof of time in cf and around the diamond. Aguero goes back for fake games in AZ. Dinesen and Bethancourt are release candidates. Nishida and possibly Asigen go up to W-S. Bonemer and Mogollon could get taxi squad looks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autumn Dreamin Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 Can someone more versed in draft particulars than I am clarify if the Angels get some kind of future compensatory pick/money for this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2Jimmy0 Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 37 minutes ago, Autumn Dreamin said: Can someone more versed in draft particulars than I am clarify if the Angels get some kind of future compensatory pick/money for this? They lose Prager and can’t spend the slot amount from pick 81 in this draft but they get pick 82 in next year’s draft. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold's Leg Lift Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 Cags is gonna be a DUDE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmy U Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 They clearly like Smith better on talent. Let's see if they were right. Lately, they rarely are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestEddy Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 The White Sox picked 5 players who were on the same Cape Cod league team, the Chatham Anglers. Light article profiling the five. https://www.chathamanglers.com/chatham-angler-news/2024/2197/White-Sox-Front-Office-Talks-5-A’S-Alumni-Selections-In-2024-MLB-Draft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johno Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 When do expect the 2024 draft signees to start reporting to the White Sox minor league teams. Any word on where their first round pick might end up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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