South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 45: Hunter Dollander

05.03.2023 11:20

South Side Sox

One of the biggest surprises of 2022 was the emergence of UDFA starter Hunter Dollander. | @Hunter.Dollander

High Ks and low BBs are key to this UDFA’s game

Hunter Dollander
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
6´0´´
232 pounds
Age: 26
2022 High Level Winston-Salem (High-A)
Age relative to high level +2.0 years
SSS rank among all right-handed starting pitchers in the system 13
Overall 2022 season stats 7-4 ⚾️ 14 games (10 starts, 2 finished) ⚾️ 66 IP ⚾️ 3.68 ERA ⚾️ 1.061 WHIP ⚾️ 73 K ⚾️ 12 BB

Hunter Dollander signed with the White Sox as an undrafted free agent on June 9, 2022, after playing partial seasons in 2021 and 2022 with the Great Falls Voyagers of the Pioneer League. The Pioneer League is independent of Minor League Baseball, but is considered a Partner League.

While Dollander struggled in two games with the old White Sox affiliate in 2021, he performed exceptionally well with the Voyagers in 2022, going 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA. He even carried a no-no into the seventh inning of his first start of the season, finishing the night with seven shutout innings allowing just one hit and no walks while striking out four.

Dollander was a college standout over five seasons of ball; one at the University of South Carolina-Aiken and four at Georgia Gwinnett College. While playing at the collegiate level, he was recognized with several personal honors, including the 2021 NAIA Baseball Academic All-American of the Year and the Most Valuable Player at the 2021 Avista NAIA World Series. Dollander was on the mound when the Grizzlies clinched the championship. His overall stat line in 64 collegiate appearances was 30-2 with a 3.23 ERA and a 1.277 WHIP in 264 2⁄3 innings pitched, with a K/9 of 9.1. Yet despite a strong small-college career, Dollander went undrafted in 2021.

WORLD SERIES MVP

Georgia Gwinnett’s ace Hunter Dollander led GGC to two wins in Lewiston over Oklahoma Wesleyan and Central Methodist. The senior righty out of Evans, Georgia pitched seven innings tonight without allowing an earned run in the national championship over CMU pic.twitter.com/yCXzwcx188
— NAIA Ball (@NAIABall) June 4, 2021

After signing in 2022 with the Pale Hose, they assigned Dollander to the Arizona Complex League. He remained there for only 11 days, winning both starts before being promoted to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. In his two months with Kannapolis, Dollander had solid numbers, going 4-3 with a 3.40 ERA and a 1.134 WHIP in 42 1⁄3 innings pitched, repeating his strong K/9 (9.1).

No gaudy strikeout total for Hunter Dollander today. He only struck out 2. But what he did do was completely frustrate the Fireflies in his 6 IP. He allows 3 hits, 1 R, and 1 BB on 57 of 76 pitches (75%). That is efficiency. #Ballers #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/jyo01LR4kL
— White Sox Daily (@dailywhitesox) August 21, 2022

On Aug. 26, 2022, the Sox promoted Dollander to Winston-Salem, where he remained for the rest of the season. He struggled a bit in his three appearances with the Dash, going 1-1 with a 7.11 ERA and a 1.263 WHIP in 12 2⁄3 innings. However, he was still a strikeout machine, with a K/9 of 10.7.

Hunter Dollander with his first #Dash K. High heat. #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/4oNXII9NJy
— White Sox Daily (@dailywhitesox) August 26, 2022

Dollander’s Baseball Cube player ratings
K/BB 97
Walks 97
vs. Power 61
Hittable 61
Strikeouts 58
Durability 49
Team Winning Percentage N/A

Dollander will most likely return to the Dash to begin 2023, but at his age (and with his impressive 2022), the White Sox would like to see him in Birmingham before season’s end.

Incidentally, you’ll be hearing the name Dollander a lot this year, regardless of how well Hunter pitches; his brother, Chase, pitches for the University of Tennessee and is MLB Pipeline’s current second-ranked prospect for this summer’s MLB draft.