A Minor Review of 2015: Chicago White Sox

Welcome to the annual series: ‘A Minor (League) Review of 2015.” This series is a great way to receive a quick recap of the ’15 minor league season for your favorite club(s), while also receiving a brief look toward the 2016 season and beyond. It can also be a handy feature for fantasy baseball players in keeper and Dynasty leagues.

A Minor Review of 2015: White Sox

The Graduate: Carlos Rodon, LHP: The third overall selection in the 2014 amateur draft, Rodon needed just 34.2 minor league innings of polish before reaching the Majors. He then threw the fifth most innings among any starter in 2015 at 139.1. The young lefty struck out one batter per inning in his freshman season while flashing enough “stuff” to suggest that he could eventually sit atop the Sox starting rotation — should Chris Sale ever relinquish his ace title. Rodon, 23, may continue to have some sophomore hiccups in 2016 as he works his way through command/control issues — which combined to see him walk 71 batters last year.

The Riser: Tim Anderson, SS: After years of not scoring well with their first round selections, the Sox have seen a great deal of value out of the last few (For fun, go check out the Sox run of first rounders from 1991-2009 at Baseball America’s awesome Draft Database). Anderson is coming off of a promising season that saw him steal 49 bases in 60 attempts at the Double-A level. He’s also hit more than .300 over the past two seasons. The big question mark on offence is around his on-base abilities. As a player who derives a fair amount of value from being on base and running, his 24 walks in 125 games (4.4% walk rate) is troubling. As it stands, the Sox appear to have a fair bit of faith in Anderson’s future successes; they’ve — to date — avoided the temptation to make a long-term commitment to a veteran shortstop this season and currently project to open the year with all-glove-no-hit Tyler Saladino.

The Tumbler: Matt Davidson, 3B/1B: The Sox and Diamondbacks came together to make a trade in late 2013 that ended up being pretty ugly for both clubs involved. From Chicago’s perspective, they dealt away their established closer for this promising rookie, who was coming off of a strong season that saw him produce an .831 OPS at Triple-A and reach the Majors for 31 games. Once he reached the Sox organization, though, he hit .199 in 2014 and .203 in 2015. His descent into mediocrity is both startling and puzzling given he’d already solved Triple-A while with Arizona. On the plus side he’s still just 24 but Davidson may need a refresher back in A-ball or Double-A to build up his confidence… or a trade to another organization for a fresh start.

The ’15 Draft Pick: Carson Fulmer, RHP: Nabbed with the eighth overall selection in the 2015 draft, Fulmer was considered by some (including Kiley McDaniel, previously of FanGraphs) to be the best college pitcher available. He looked good in his pro debut with 26 strikeouts in 23 innings. He’s advanced enough to suggest that he could follow a swift path through the minors like both Chris Sale and Carlos Rodon. Don’t be surprised if Fulmer is in The Show by the end of ’16 (assuming he stays healthy).

The Lottery Ticket: Micker Adolfo, OF: Outside of the odd Cuban, the Sox aren’t known for dabbling aggressively (or successfully) in the international market. Chicago, though, spent a large chunk of change on Adolfo in 2013 after being attracted to his massive power potential. He’s moved slowly through the system — having yet to play outside Rookie ball — and has needed a lot of refinement. Adolfo showed his strength by slugging 17 extra base hits in his 46 game debut in ’14 but that came with an eye-popping 85 strikeouts. The organization clearly made adjustments to his approach in ’15 and he saw his K-rate drop to 25 whiffs in 22 games, but he also hit just four extra hits (and saw his homer output drop from five to zero.