White Sox stoked for future after wrapping up '24 Draft
Scott Merkin
@scottmerkinCHICAGO -- The White Sox 2024 Draft began with the selection of left-handed pitcher Hagen Smith at pick No. 5 a little after 7:30 p.m. CT Sunday.
It ended on Tuesday afternoon, with the pick of high school first baseman Myles Bailey in the 20th round. Bailey was one of three high school players taken by the White Sox, along with 11 pitchers (six right-handers and five left-handers), five outfielders, three infielders, one catcher and one two-way player to get to 21.
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Here¡¯s some notes from what Chicago accomplished throughout this process.
Overview
White Sox director of amateur scouting Mike Shirley spoke of this Draft being pivotal as part of the organization¡¯s ongoing rebuild, especially with Chicago holding the fifth overall pick. He didn¡¯t really acknowledge Tuesday if the team hit the desired level with its picks, or even exceeded it. But he once again seemed pleased with the overall body of work.
¡°I love the pitching stuff we were able to acquire,¡± Shirley said. ¡°There¡¯s this old-time philosophy, you should take as many left-handers as you can take in a Draft. There¡¯s quite a few in there. And if you hit on left-handers, they get a little bit more runway, they can get away with a little bit more. It starts at the top with Hagen and Mr. [Blake] Larson [Competitive Balance B], and it kind of continues.
¡°There¡¯s some good pieces to the puzzle in there, there is some good athleticism. I liked the depth, I liked the balance between the offense and pitching side. I feel like that part of the program, taking some risk on those bats to really hit, is something we wanted to try to accomplish.¡±
Mr. Smith, I presume
Going with a pitcher at No. 5 was a bit of a surprise, although Shirley spoke about Smith and Chase Burns being in play during his pre-Draft media session. It seemed to somewhat surprise Smith, the 2024 SEC Pitcher of the Year from Arkansas, but he had a good handle on the team he was joining.
Top 15 Draft picks:
1. Bazzana | 2. Burns | 3. Condon | 4. Kurtz | 5. Smith | 6. Caglianone | 7. Wetherholt | 8. Moore | 9. Griffin | 10. King | 11. Rainer | 12. Montgomery | 13. Tibbs | 14. Smith | 15. Cijntje
¡°Just the young core of guys they have, especially the left-handed pitchers in the organization,¡± Smith said during a Sunday night Zoom. ¡°It's kind of crazy, with [Garrett] Crochet and Noah Schultz.
¡°I keep up with Major League Baseball a little bit, so I know about the guys in the organization, especially the guys that played at Arkansas. I've had a few of those guys who played at Arkansas that are with the White Sox text me."
Third day surprise
Asking Shirley to name a favorite Day 3 pick is akin to asking him to select a favorite area scout among his staff. But Shirley mentioned the high-octane right-handed throwing arms of Blake Shepardson in the 11th round out of the University of San Francisco and Pierce George in the 13th round from Alabama.
The 6-foot-6, 240-pound George has topped out at 103 mph on the radar gun, according to Shirley, and averages in the high 90s with his fastball. But harnessing this great raw stuff will be the key, as George walked 15 over a combined 13 1/3 innings at stops with Texas (2023) and the Crimson Tide.
¡°We really tried to attack some pieces of the puzzle to make a difference for the club and move it forward on some bullpens,¡± Shirley said. ¡°Bullpens are tricky. We feel like these guys are one-inning guys that maybe we can get something and tap into it. So it was a good day for the White Sox.¡±
Special pick
Check out the interesting life story, as told by MLB.com¡¯s Anthony Castrovince, of Lyle Miller-Green. He¡¯s the two-way player from Austin Peay, taken by the White Sox in the 17th round, who might have the best power in the Draft behind Jac Caglianone.
Question of NIL
Shirley shared personal thoughts on how the collegiate name, image and likeness program (NIL) is impacting the Draft.
¡°The NCAA really has to think about what they're doing,¡± Shirley said. ¡°I was in a conversation with a player today trying to get him to step into professional baseball, and they have reference points of sometimes financial security because they're being given money to go to school that's real money, so there's some security for them. I worry that the end game should be to be a Major League player.
¡°Sometimes people don't understand how you have to get into the system and get your career moving. You have to figure out how to be a professional. And they just think they can keep going back to school because the money's there. That's not always accurate. Your runway and your career, you need to make sure you secure it when you can. So it's a little frustrating for me from that perspective.¡±