2024 South Side Sox Prospect Vote: Round 15
George Wolkow wins our 14th round. Who is the 15th-best prospect in the White Sox system?
It is the seventh 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. And Round 24 of voting was 2023’s last (we didn’t do an actual wrap for last year’s voting, but Jordan Sprinkle ended up being our final pick!), with the full archive.
Our Top 100 is now underway, as well. We’ll try for a daily Top 100 entry on site, and the Prospect Vote will turn over as soon as the top vote-getter seems to have an insurmountable lead — but we’ll take no longer than a week to vote each round.
We have six of 10 players from last year’s initial prospect vote poll on our first ballot this year, with two players matriculating out of rookie status (Oscar Colás and Lenyn Sosa) and two pitchers falling out of Top 10 consideration (Norge Vera and Sean Burke). And though “we’re not rebuilding,” four of the Top 10 on the ballot to begin were acquired were not even in the system in 2023; put another way, not a single player from our farm system has moved up onto the first ballot in 2024. Oof.
Last year, Sosa was spending his sixth year among our Top 100 Prospects, and this year we have three players in their fifth years on the list: Bryan Ramos, Cristian Mena and José Rodríguez.
All right, let’s have some fun. And get voting!
On a ballot filled with arms, George Wolkow pretty well coasted to a quick win, with 41 of 199 (20.6%) votes, to earn our No. 14 win. The right fielder is the first 2023 draft choice to earn a spot on our Prospect Vote list:
Freshly-drafted, this is Wolkow’s first time on our Top Prospect ballot.
The No. 14 winner in 2023 was Yoelqui Céspedes, 2022’s No. 14 was Erick Hernández, 2021 was Benyamín Bailey, and 2020 gave us Yermín Mercedes.
Going out on a limb, but with just one hitter left on the ballot, and at that one finishing last two ballots in a row, we’ll get an arm advancing as No. 15. Tanner McDougal made an impressive enough debut, finishing sixth overall, with 17 votes. Joining him and eight other pitchers on this ballot is offseason Atlanta acquisition Jared Shuster.
South Side Sox Top-Voted White Sox Prospects for 2024
- Colson Montgomery — 65% (Rodríguez 16%, Schultz 13%, Nastrini/Quero/Ramos 1.6%, Eder/Mena 0.8%, González/Pallette 0%)
- Noah Schultz — 64% (Quero 11%, Ramos 10%, Nastrini 5%, Rodríguez 4%, Mena 2.4%, Bush 1.6%, Eder/González/Pallette 0.8%)
- Bryan Ramos — 29% (Quero 25%, Nastrini 13%, Eder 8%, Rodríguez 6%, González 5%, Bush 4.3%, Mena 3.7%, Cannon 3.2%, Pallette 2.7%)
- Edgar Quero — 36% (Nastrini 18%, Eder/Rodríguez 8%, Mena 7%, Leasure 6%, González 5.1%, Bush 4.6%, Cannon 4%, Pallette 3%)
- Nick Nastrini — 27% (Mena 13%, Eder 11.2%, Leasure 10.6%, Rodríguez 10.1%, J. Burke 9.5%, González 8.9%, Bush 4%, Cannon 3.4%, Pallette 2.8%)
- Cristian Mena — 17% (Eder 14%, Leasure 13.0%, González/Rodríguez 12.6%, J. Burke 11.8%, Cannon 6%, Bush 5%, Pallette 4.3%, Tatum 3.9%)
- Jake Eder — 20% (Leasure 14%, González 13.0%, Rodríguez 12.5%, J. Burke 12.0%, Cannon/Wolkow 7%, Bush 6%, Pallette 5.2%, Tatum 4.7%)
- Jordan Leasure — 23% (González 12%, Rodríguez 11.3%, J. Burke 10.8%, Tatum 9.3%, Wolkow 8.8%, Bush 7.2%, Cannon 6.7%, Pallette 5.7%, S. Burke 5.2%)
- Jacob González — 20% (Rodríguez 13%, J. Burke 12%, Tatum 11%, Wolkow 10%, Veras 9%, Cannon 7%, Bush 6.4%, Pallette 6.0%, S. Burke 5%)
- Jacob Burke — 29% (Rodríguez 22%, Tatum 10%, Wolkow 9%, Veras 8%, Bush 5.3%, Cannon 4.9%, Pallette 4.6%, Keener 3.9%, S. Burke 3.5%)
- José Rodríguez — 24% (Wolkow 14%, Tatum 13%, Veras 12%, Drohan 7.3%, Bush/Cannon 6.9%, Keener 5.5%, S. Burke/Pallette 5.1%)
- Wilfred Veras — 28% (Tatum 14%, Wolkow 12%, Taylor 10%, Drohan 8.1%, Bush 7.7%, Cannon 6.5%, Pallette 6.1%, Keener 4.6%, S. Burke 4.2%)
- Terrell Tatum — 22% (Wolkow 13%, Taylor 11.0%, Drohan 10.5%, Bush/Cannon 10.1%, Keener 6.7%, Pallette 6.2%, S. Burke 5.7%, Burrowes 4.8%)
- George Wolkow — 21% (Taylor 13%, Cannon 12%, Drohan 11%, Bush 10%, McDougal 9%, S. Burke 8%, Pallette 7%, Keener 6.1%, Burrowes 5.5%)
Sean Burke
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 24
2022 SSS Prospect Vote ranking 13
2023 SSS Prospect Vote ranking 12
2023 High Level Charlotte (AAA)
Age relative to high level -3.9 years
Overall 2023 stats 1-4 ▪️ 9 starts ▪️ 36 2⁄3 IP ▪️ 7.61 ERA ▪️ 34 K▪️ 27 BB ▪️ 1.718 WHIP
Burke was almost assuredly the first starter up, in the mold of Davis Martin in 2022, as the White Sox found a need in 2023. However, Burke carried spring training shoulder soreness into the season and never got right; he was shut down for the season in June.
Ryan Burrowes
Shortstop
Age 19
2023 High Level Arizona (Rookie)
Age relative to high level -1.8 years
Overall 2023 stats 43 games ▪️ 2 HR ▪️ 15 RBI ▪️ .260/.330/.386 ▪️ 12-of-17 (70.6%) SB ▪️ 12 BB ▪️ 51 K
Burrowes’ first Stateside season disappointed, but at almost two years younger than level, there’s ample room for a re-set and fast-tracking back up the system.
Ky Bush
Left-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 24
2023 SSS Prospect Vote ranking N/R, acquired from the Angels in July
2023 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -1.3 years
Overall 2023 stats 4-8 ▪️ 17 starts ▪️ 71 2⁄3 IP ▪️ 6.91 ERA ▪️ 78 K▪️ 37 BB ▪️ 1.647 WHIP
Bush’s broad stats profile resembles closely fellow lefty starter Jake Eder below, but without the return from major injury for context. He’s a second-rounder who, over two full professional seasons-plus, has yet to flash much of his potential.
Jonathan Cannon
Right-handed Starting Pitcher
Age 23
2023 SSS Prospect Vote ranking 19
2023 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -2.3 years
Overall 2023 stats 1-4 ▪️ 25 starts ▪️ 121 IP ▪️ 4.46 ERA ▪️ 106 K ▪️ 39 BB ▪️ 1.364 WHIP
Cannon ate up High-A in 2023 but hit some speed bumps in Birmingham. He likely starts with the Barons and moves up to Charlotte by midseason, ranking as one of the Top 5 starters in the system.
Shane Drohan
Left-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 25
2023 SSS Prospect Vote ranking N/R, acquired from the Red Sox in December
2023 High Level Worcester (AAA)
Age relative to high level -2.9 years
Overall 2023 stats 10-7 ▪️ 27 games (25 starts) ▪️ 123 IP ▪️ 5.05 ERA ▪️ 129 K▪️ 72 BB ▪️ 1.577 WHIP
Drohan was a Rule 5 pick from Boston, which means he’ll have to impress enough in spring training — and frankly, throughout the season, as he must remain on the active roster in the majors for all of 2024 — or get sent back to the Red Sox. He was otherworldly in Double-A but terrible at Triple-A in 2023; if the White Sox gave up on Nick Avila last spring, it seems a stretch that Drohan sticks with our Sox.
Seth Keener
Right-handed Starting Pitcher
Age 22
2023 High Level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level -0.6 years
Overall 2023 stats 1-1 ▪️ 7 games (5 starts) ▪️ 12 1⁄3 IP ▪️ 4.38 ERA ▪️ 1.216 WHIP ▪️ 14 K ▪️ 4 BB
Keener was a tweener as a third-rounder coming out of the draft, but the White Sox will do what they can to stretch him out in his first full professional season, likely starting in Winston-Salem in 2024.
Tanner McDougal
Right-handed starting pitcher
Age 20
2023 High Level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level -1.6 years
Overall 2023 stats 0-3 ▪️ 21 starts ▪️ 69 1⁄3 IP ▪️ 4.15 ERA ▪️ 80 K ▪️ 43 BB ▪️ 1.399 WHIP
This was only noticeable due to a cut-and-paste with Pallette below, but how wild is the similarity between their stats for 2023? No shocker, both with their first full seasons after surgery, with Pallette older; poor Tanner fell off the map a bit, getting surgery pretty much right after starting his pro career.
Peyton Pallette
Right-handed starting pitcher
Age 22
2023 SSS Prospect Vote ranking 11
2023 High Level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level +0.4 years
Overall 2023 stats 0-4 ▪️ 22 starts ▪️ 72 IP ▪️ 4.13 ERA ▪️ 78 K ▪️ 41 BB ▪️ 1.361 WHIP
The 2023 season was Pallette’s first after missing all of 2022 with injury, and the early returns were promising. He’ll start at Winston-Salem this year, with an expectation of Birmingham in the second half.
Jared Shuster
Left-handed starting pitcher
Age 25
2022 High Level Atlanta (MLB)
Age relative to high level -5.2 years
Overall 2023 stats 9-9 ▪️ 27 starts ▪️ 131 2⁄3 IP ▪️ 5.33 ERA ▪️ 94 K ▪️ 71 BB ▪️ 1.610 WHIP
The numbers don’t overwhelm, but the stats above combine Triple-A and MLB, so Shuster acquitted himself OK. The lack of control is an issue, for sure. While not quite averaging five innings per start, Shuster still started every game he pitched and took on a pretty healthy workload overall. Among all of the pretenders to the 2024 rotation, Shuster might be the one guy beyond Dylan Cease most prepared to start 32 games and live to tell the tale.
Grant Taylor
Right-handed starting pitcher
Age 21
2022 High Level LSU (NCAA)
Age relative to high level -0.7 years
Overall 2022 stats 4-1 ▪️ 17 games (2 starts) ▪️ 31 IP ▪️ 5.81 ERA ▪️ 39 K ▪️ 21 BB ▪️ 1.710 WHIP
No matter how great the LSU Tigers pedigree, taking Taylor in the second round in this past draft was a bold move (MLB Pipeline had him at 102 on its board). The righthander sat out all of 2023 after Tommy John surgery but should be ready, however babied, for some ACL and A-ball work in 2024.