2024 South Side Sox Prospect Vote: Round 16
Grant Taylor wins our 15th round. Who is the 16th-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!
First off, a unique rare error in the annals of the Prospect Vote, as Jared Shuster lost his rookie eligibility in 2023, having made 11 starts and spent far more than 45 days in the majors. Not sure how that slipped past, but the southpaw is indicated in italics below, his vote totals don’t matter, and we’ll introduce not one but two new prospects for the vote this round.
As for the results, with Shuster skipping in line to third overall, pretty much everyone stood still. However, the arms logjam was broken by our third 2023 draft choice to advance, as LSU’s Grant Taylor was our pick. The 2023 second-rounder earned 39 of 211 (18.4%) votes and also became our third right-handed starting pitcher to advance:
This is Taylor’s first time on our Top Prospect ballot, and this now makes four straight winners making their debuts in the Prospect Vote.
The No. 15 winner in 2023 was Jared Kelley, 2022’s No. 15 was Matt Thompson, 2021 was Drew Dalquist, and 2020 gave us Benyamín Bailey.
Still with seven pitchers among our 10 candidates, it seems as if we’ll get an arm advancing in this next round. Joining the pitchers on this ballot are a pair of infielders and Winston-Salem teammates, Brooks Baldwin and Loidel Chapelli Jr.
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 10.9%, 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%)
- Grant Taylor — 18% (Cannon 12.8%, Shuster [ineligible] 11.9%, Drohan 10.9%, Bush 10.4%, McDougal 9%, Pallette 8%, S. Burke 7%, Keener 6%, Burrowes 5%)
Brooks Baldwin
Third Baseman
Age 23
2023 High Level Winston-Salem (High-A)
Age relative to high level -0.2 years
Overall 2023 stats 93 games ▪️ 15 HR ▪️ 58 RBI ▪️ .269/.349/.460 ▪️ 22-of-27 (81.4%) SB ▪️ 42 BB ▪️ 86 K
“Just” a 12th-rounder, Baldwin opened eyes in 2023 and even saw substantial time at shortstop. He’s a bit of a Swiss Army knife player who seems destined to follow in Danny Mendick/Romy González footsteps to the majors.
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.
Loidel Chapelli Jr.
Second Baseman
Age 22
2023 High Level Winston-Salem (High-A)
Age relative to high level -1.2 years
Overall 2023 stats 106 games ▪️ 10 HR ▪️ 57 RBI ▪️ .254/.361/.411 ▪️ 26-of-32 (81.3%) SB ▪️ 61 BB ▪️ 115 K
Chapelli made the somewhat stunning jump from DSL to Winston-Salem, and at season’s start seemed to be destined to shoot into the org’s Top 10 prospect in a cinch. The second sacker cooled as the summer wore on, but with solid tools all around, keep an eye out.
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.