White Sox Seventh Round Draft Day Steal A Prospect To Watch In 2024
The White Sox entered the 2023 off-season as one of the most improved farm systems in the MLB. While they are still far from a top-tier group the organization made significant strides in improving their minor league depth last season.
MLB Pipeline’s midseason rankings have the White Sox as the 20th-best farm system in the league which was a six-spot improvement from their No. 26 preseason rankings. Adding Edgar Quero, Jake Eder, Nick Nastrini, and Ky Busch after holding a garage sale at the trade deadline helped the White Sox creep closer to the middle of the pack after being buried as the No. 30 farm system in baseball in MLB Pipleline’s midseason 2021 rankings.
Ten of the White Sox top 19 prospects were not in the organization in June. A good draft also helped these rankings. Some of the headliners that the front office added include Jacob Gonzalez, Grant Taylor, and Seth Keener. However, the biggest steal of the draft for Chicago may have been George Wolcow.
Wolcow was selected in the seventh round but still managed to be ranked No. 71 in MLB Pipeline’s draft top 100 draft pick rankings. He is a left-handed bat, who projects to be an outfielder long-term due to his arm strength but has played across the diamond. The 17-year-old was projected to be a first-round pick in the 2024 high school class before deciding to reclassify into the 2023 draft in March of 2022. Despite being drafted with the 209th overall pick he landed himself a $1 million bonus from the White Sox.
Some scouts believe he is one of the most physically gifted prospects in this year’s draft class. At 6-foot-7 239 pounds he already processes the strength to become a power hitter at the professional level. His power is graded as a 60, which is considered above average on a 20-80 scale
The Chicago area native hit .363 with seven home runs in 36 games for Downers Grove North last season. He is only going to continue to get stronger as he continues to develop.
Wolcow is still a raw prospect but has a massive ceiling if he can be developed properly. Developing in-house talent has been an issue for the White Sox in the past but new assistant general manager Josh Barfield hopes to buck that trend.
Wolcow turns 18 on January 11th and only has 13 games of rookie ball under his belt. In that small sample size, he slashed .225/.392/.325 with a home run and a pair of stolen bases.
There are some concerns about his loopy swing and high strikeout rate. In 40 plate appearances in Rookie ball, he struck out 17 times. Scouts also believe he has trouble with offspeed pitches. However, it is hard to put too much stock into his numbers last season since Wolcow was still getting his feet wet in professional baseball.
The hometown kid will likely begin the 2024 season in low-A ball. He isn’t projected to be ready for the big leagues until 2027. However, Wolcow is going to be a name to watch in 2024 and beyond.