2023 South Side Sox Prospect Vote: Round 12

Feb 1, 2023 - 4:55 AM

It is the sixth 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.

Despite cutting short our Top 50 voting last year, some seasons we’ve gotten upwards of 15,000 votes. So thanks in advance for your participation!

Our No. 100 prospect was a late substitution, Luke Shilling, so he’s not yet up on site. But we do aim to run the Top 100 count-up on a daily basis, and have prospect votes every couple of days.

Unlike last year, our writers agree on a No. 1 prospect. Will you as well?

Just five of 10 players from last year’s initial prospect vote poll show up this time around, with only one (Jake Burger) dropping off after losing his rookie/prospect status. So there is some ballot churn here.

Also note something sort of miraculous, and a tribute to a steady climb through the system: Lenyn Sosa is spending his SIXTH year on our top prospect lists — and is still very young!

All right, let’s have some fun. And get voting!

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Despite an anticipated close battle, Peyton Pallette stood out this round, with a small overall percentage, but nonetheless a convincing win, getting 20.0% but beating out runner-up Sean Burke by eight votes.

As a 2022 draft choice, this was Pallette’s first time in the Prospect Vote. He is the third right-handed starting pitcher to advance.

A year ago, Jared Kelley slotted in at No. 11; Kelley is currently tracking for No. 15 in 2023. Yoelqui Céspedes suffered his second straight ballot standing still, although at least this time around he had company, with Yolbert Sánchez taking an almost-unprecedented leap of four spots this round.

The entire second half of the ballot was separated by just one vote from place to place, as were the 3-4-5 finishers.

Wilfred Veras debuted in our balloting at No. 9, with 12 votes. This round, Matthew Thompson — who just earned an invite to major league Spring Training camp — joins the fun.

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South Side Sox Top-Voted White Sox Prospects for 2023

1. Oscar Colás — 57% (Montgomery 35%, Ramos/Sosa 3%, Rodríguez 1%, Mena/Pallette/Schultz 0.5%, Burke/Vera 0%)
2. Colson Montgomery — 71% (Sosa 9%, Ramos 5%, Rodríguez 4.4%, Mena 3.7%, Vera 3%, Céspedes 2%, Pallette/Schultz 1%, Burke 0%)
3. Bryan Ramos — 29% (Sosa 25%, Vera 12.3%, Rodríguez 11.7%, Schultz 9%, Mena 8%, Burke/Pallette 2%, Céspedes 1%, Kath 0%)
4. Lenyn Sosa — 43% (Rodríguez 25%, Vera 16%, Mena/Schultz 6%, Céspedes 2%, Kath/Pallette 1%, Burke/Cannon 0%)
5. José Rodríguez — 40.5% (Vera 22.3%, Mena 14.0%, Schultz 9.1%, Céspedes 5.0%, Burke 3.3%, Kath/Pallette 2.5%,/Cannon 0.8%, Simas 0.0%)
6. Noah Schultz — 34% (Vera 26%, Mena 17%, Céspedes/Mieses 7%, Kath 5%, Burke 2.4%, Pallette 1.6%, Cannon/Simas 0.0%)
7. Norge Vera — 30% (Kath 29%, Mena 20%, Pallette 5%, Mieses 4.3%, Céspedes 3.7%, Kelley 2.9%, Burke 2.2%, Cannon 1.5%, Simas 0.7%)
8. Cristian Mena — 27% (Kath 19%, Pallette 11%, Mieses 8%, Céspedes 7.2%, Kelley 6.6%, Burke 6.1%, Cannon 5.5%, Simas 5.0%, Burrowes 4.4%)
9. Wes Kath — 23% (Mieses/Pallette 14%, Burke/Céspedes 12%, Kelley 10%, Cannon 7%, Simas 3%, Burrowes 2%, Santos 1%)
10. Luis Mieses — 18% (Pallette 14.4%, Burke 13.9%, Céspedes 13.3%, Kelley 12.8%, Cannon 12%, Sánchez 6%, Simas 4%, Burrowes 3.3%, Santos 2.8%)
11. Peyton Pallette — 20% (Burke 16%, Sánchez 12.0%, Céspedes 11.6%, Kelley 11.1%, Cannon 7%, Simas 6.2%, Burrowes 5.8%, Veras 5.3% Santos 4.9%)

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Sean Burke

Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 23
2022 SSS poll ranking 13
2022 High Level Charlotte (AAA)
Age relative to high level -5.1 years
Overall 2022 stats 4-10 ⚾️ 27 games (26 starts) ⚾️ 108 IP ⚾️ 4.75 ERA ⚾️ 48 BB ⚾️ 137 K ⚾️ 1.444 WHIP

In line to be 2023’s Davis Martin, and given the White Sox high-minors starter depth, flip a coin as to whether Burke makes his MLB debut this summer. While very challenged at Birmingham and downright overmatched in two Charlotte starts, Burke mowed through his age-appropriate Winston-Salem opponents to start the year. He’ll start in the Charlotte rotation this April.

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Ryan Burrowes

Shortstop
Age 18
2022 High Level DSL (Rookie)
Age relative to high level -0.8 years
Overall 2022 stats 47 games ⚾️ 3 HR ⚾️ 18 RBI ⚾️ .266/.393/.392 ⚾️ 12-of-12 SB ⚾️ 25 BB ⚾️ 34 K

It says a lot that this shortstop is more highly-ranked than Loidell Chapelli Jr., who absolutely tore up the DSL in 2022. Certainly Burrowes being age-appropriate for the DSL and exhibiting durability and smarts for the season played a big role in that. As all DSL seasons tend to be, there’s a small sample size here, but it will be exciting to see what Burrowes can do Stateside in 2023.

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Jonathan Cannon

Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 22
2022 High Level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level -0.7 years
Overall 2022 pro stats 0-0 ⚾️ 4 games (3 starts) ⚾️ 7 1⁄3 IP ⚾️ 1.23 ERA ⚾️ 0.955 WHIP ⚾️ 4 K ⚾️ 3 BB

The big (6´6´´) Georgian was the club’s third-rounder in 2022, getting his feet wet as a pro but really getting down to business looking ahead to 2023. Anticipate a cup of coffee in Kanny, if not an outright straight assignment right to Winston-Salem. There is room to move fast as a starter in the White Sox system.

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Yoelqui Céspedes

Center Fielder
Age 25
2021 SSS poll ranking 6
2022 SSS poll ranking 6
2022 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -0.1 years
Overall 2022 stats 119 games ⚾️ 17 HR ⚾️ 59 RBI ⚾️ .258/.332/.437 ⚾️ 33-of-45 SB ⚾️ 29 BB ⚾️ 154 K

Céspedes broke camp on a pretty high note, having impressed in Arizona, and it did not seem completely out of the question he could see the South Side in the summer. But while Oscar Colás just whipped past him and sprinted up to Charlotte, Céspedes languished in Birmingham. Particularly concerning is his ongoing contact issue; 154 Ks (with scant corresponding walks) and only decent power is not going to cut it. Yoelqui will need to either dump at least 100 points into his soft (.769) OPS or make those contact issues disappear. At this point, he’s in danger of being passed by Luis Mieses — and that’s just among outfielders.

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Jared Kelley

Right-handed starting pitcher
Age 21
2021 SSS poll ranking 5
2022 SSS poll ranking 11
2022 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -4.4 years
Overall 2022 stats 1-6 ⚾️ 21 starts ⚾️ 76 2⁄3 IP ⚾️ 3.52 ERA ⚾️ 71 K ⚾️ 47 BB ⚾️ 1.461 WHIP

Kelley, still young even for the Low-A Kannapolis where he started and pitched most of his season, got some of the first traction of his career in 2022, meriting (by the odd org standards) matriculation to Project Birmingham in August. A reasonable placement in 2023 would see him build momentum by beginning in Winston-Salem, but desperation drives organizations to do strange things.

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Yolbert Sánchez

Second Baseman
Age 26
2021 SSS poll ranking 28
2022 SSS poll ranking 29
2022 High Level Charlotte (AAA)
Age relative to high level -1.3 years
Overall 2022 stats 127 games ⚾️ 3 HR ⚾️ 46 RBI ⚾️ .287/.346/.344 ⚾️ 11-of-20 (55%) SB ⚾️ 40 BB ⚾️ 78 K

Yolbert Sánchez appeared to be poised for a run at the majors in 2022, but surprisingly saw his offense falter in the generous hitting confines of Charlotte. Particularly brutal was the middle infielder’s utter loss of power; never has his punch-and-judy nature been as evident as his .344 SLG last year. Lenyn Sosa has lapped him on the depth chart, with José Rodríguez coming hard.

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Gregory Santos

Right-Handed Relief Pitcher
Age 23
2022 High Level San Francisco (MLB)
Age relative to high level -7.2
Overall 2022 MiLB stats 1-2 ⚾️ 35 games (2 starts) ⚾️ 35 IP ⚾️ 4.63 ERA ⚾️ 37 K ⚾️ 20 BB ⚾️ 1.457 WHIP

Nothing I can tell you that Malachi Hayes won’t do better with his breaking analysis on Gregory Santos after he was acquired for Kade McClure back in December. But a positive bullet point: Santos broke camp with the Giants in 2022 but pitching in just two games before demotion. And two negatives: Santos has a monster arm that’s wild, and he was suspended for PEDs in 2021. South Side bullpen is up for grabs, Greg!

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Kohl Simas

Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 23
2022 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -2.4 years
Overall 2022 stats 2-2 ⚾️ 22 games (15 starts) ⚾️ 68 IP ⚾️ 4.24 ERA ⚾️ 1.324 WHIP ⚾️ 82 K ⚾️ 29 BB

Kohl, son of former White Sox reliever Bill Simas, was an undrafted free agent in 2021 who hit the ground running in the White Sox organization and hasn’t looked back. He is the only UDFA to have been part of Project Birmingham, called up as part of a later wave and seeing action in six games.

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Matthew Thompson

Right-handed starting pitcher
Age 22
2020 SSS poll ranking 12
2021 SSS poll ranking 10
2022 SSS poll ranking 15
2022 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -3.4 years
Overall 2022 stats 4-7 ⚾️ 25 starts ⚾️ 109 2⁄3 IP ⚾️ 4.84 ERA ⚾️ 1.350 WHIP ⚾️ 104 K ⚾️ 40 BB

Matthew Thompson, has yet to quite catch up with his level, young at every stop and never getting to the point of dominating. That said, he showed out OK in what was a very bold competitive promotion to Birmingham (Project Birmingham) and has distinguished himself as the most promising arm of the Thompson-Dalquist-Kelley triumvarate. He scored a major-league camp invite to 2023 Spring Training.

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Wilfred Veras

First Baseman
Age 20
2022 SSS poll ranking 18
2022 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -5.1 years
Overall 2022 stats 113 games ⚾️ 20 HR ⚾️ 72 RBI ⚾️ .267/.318/.462 ⚾️ 5-for-5 SB ⚾️ 30 BB ⚾️ 132 K

Wilfred Veras was one of just a handful of White Sox players to top the 20-homer mark in 2022, and he did it while playing far younger than his level — even far down the rungs, at Low-A Kannapolis. Not a fielder to speak of despite being listed at both first and third base, Veras’ bat will carry him. He clubbed well enough even during Project Birmingham that he could not only start 2023 with the Barons, but see Charlotte this summer.

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