2025 South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 68: Zach Franklin
Fast-rising in his first full year, this righty was good in High-A — and even better in AA
Zach Franklin
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher
6´1´´
198 pounds
Age: 26
2024 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking 88
2024 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level +0.5 years
SSS rank among all right-handed relief pitchers in the system 8
Overall 2024 stats 6-6 ⚾️ 37 games (28 finished) ⚾️ 6 SV ⚾️ 50 2⁄3 innings ⚾️ 3.20 ERA ⚾️ 1.046 WHIP ⚾️ 75 K ⚾️ 19 BB
Zach Franklin was a sixth-year pitcher at Missouri after spending his first five college seasons at Western Carolina. Franklin mainly served as a back-end reliever for the Tigers, but he saw his walk rate jump more than 2% and his HR/FB% balloon from 6.3% to 20.6% in 2023. SEC bats are no joke.
Franklin featured two different fastball shapes in 2023, a traditional four-seamer and a sinker. Both sat in the mid-90s, but the former got solid results despite a roughly average movement profile, and the latter got absolutely tattooed. The spring for Franklin consisted of a ton of whiffs, but also plenty of damage.
Aside from his heaters, Franklin has a breaking ball that no one really knows what to call. It moves like a cutter/slider hybrid but has a shape like a traditional curveball. Whatever it is, it had a huge Whiff rate. He was able to induce a lot of swing-and-miss despite anything, other than above average velocity on both fastballs, that says he should generate those kind of results. There’s undoubtedly some pitch deception at play here, and when you watch Franklin pitch, it’s one of the shortest arm actions you’ll ever see on the mound. He almost looks like he’s throwing a shot put.
His split-changeup is another pitch that has largely average movement metrics, but it just flat-out worked, helping him to hold lefties to just a .219 batting average.
As an older reliever upon drafting, the White Sox have moved him quickly. He saw stints with both the ACL White Sox and Kannapolis after being selected (6.35 ERA in 11 1⁄3 innings, finishing just one game and mostly getting his feet wet as a pro). In 2024, the White Sox pushed him to High-A Winston-Salem to start, and he pitched admirably, to a 3.76 ERA, 1.131 WHIP and six saves. Franklin’s merit promotion came just in time to help fortify Birmingham’s run to the Southern League title, and including three scoreless outings in the Double-A playoffs. All told, he ran out a 0.90 ERA and 0.700 WHIP over eight outings, seven of them finishes; Franklin surrendered just four hits and three walks against 17 Ks as he slayed Double-A.
Franklin’s Baseball Cube player ratings
Strikeouts 82 (+3 from last season)
Hittable 77 (+3)
vs. Power 77 (+3)
K/BB 76 (+2)
Durability 72 (-3)
Walks 59 (+3)
Average 72.83 (+2.00)
Per the Ratings, Franklin continues to dominate relative to his peers. In fact, his ratings are the second-highest so far in our Top 100, and the highest for a player as advanced as Double-A. In spite of just eight games pitching in Birmingham, expect a quick (if not immediate) progression to Triple-A in 2025, with an outside chance at seeing the South Side this summer.
2025 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox Prospects
100. Cole McConnell, CF
99. Drake Logan, LF
98. Marcelo Alcala, RF
97. Lyle Miller-Green, 1B
96. Jared Kelley, RHRP
95. Adrian Gil, 1B
94. Adam Hackenberg, C
93. Loidel Chapelli, 2B
92. Eddie Park, CF
91. Chase Plymell, RHRP
90. Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa, RHRP
89. Tristan Stivors, RHRP
88. Pierce George, RHRP
87. Wes Kath, 3B
86. Daniel González, LHRP
85. Mikey Kane, 1B
84. Shane Murphy, LHSP
83. Connor McCullough, RHSP
82. Braden Shewmake, SS
81. Caleb Freeman, RHRP
80. Michael Turner, C
79. Drew McDaniel, RHSP
78. Jurdrick Profar, SS
77. Reudis Diaz, RHSP
76. Phil Fox, RHRP
75. Terrell Tatum, CF
74. Calvin Harris, C
73. Jacob Burke, CF
72. Alec Makarewicz, 1B
71. Carson Jacobs, RHRP
70. Nick Altermatt, RHRP
69. Drew Dalquist, RHRP
68. Zach Franklin, RHRP