2022 MLB Draft Report: Day 2 Recap
Third Round (Pick 101) – RHP Jonathan Cannon, University of Georgia
Draft Rankings – MLB: 60 | Baseball America: 46 | ESPN: 58 | The Athletic: 45
Sox Machine Top 150 Rank: 49th
A name to watch in the 2021 MLB Draft as a sophomore-eligible pitcher, Jonathan Cannon tried to use 2022 as a bounceback season with Georgia leading the Bulldogs staff. Cannon’s peripherals didn’t improve much from last year, but he was able to throw 15 more innings and prove he has a starter’s endurance.
While watching Cannon in 2022, he relies on three pitches: a fastball, a cutter, and a curveball. Cannon has dabbled both with a two-seam and four-seam variety of the fastball during his time at Georgia.
Velocity would often start in the mid-90s mph before tailing to low-90s as he got past the fourth inning. Cannon would use his curveball as a very effective out pitch when facing a lineup a second or third time through the order.
The cutter is a pitch that’s improving and at 88-90 mph is just enough of a velocity tailing away from right-handed hitters. More consistency working with the pitch could help against left-handers. With a grip adjustment, Cannon may generate more horizontal spin to be a sweeping slider that so many MLB pitchers are adopting today.
Fourth Round (Pick 131) – SS Jordan Sprinkle, UC Santa Barbara
Draft Rankings – MLB: 140 | Baseball America: 156 | ESPN: 191 | The Athletic: 77
Sox Machine Top 150 Rank: 135th
One of the best defensive shortstops in this draft class, Jordan Sprinkle, had early season hopes of being a Day 1 draft pick. Those were dashed after his poor offensive season hitting .269/.277/.401 with a 20.74% K-rate. There is work to be done by White Sox player development to help fix Sprinkle’s swing mechanics and plate approach. If Sprinkle can consistently find his way on base, he has plus speed to be an effective base stealer.
Fifth Round (Pick 161) – LHP Tyler Schweitzer, Ball State University
Draft Rankings – MLB: 210 | Baseball America: 381
Tyler Schweitzer moved from Ball State’s bullpen to starting rotation in 2022 and earned MAC Pitcher of the Year after his impressive season. In 17 appearances with 16 starts, Schweitzer pitched 91.2 innings with a 2.65 ERA maintaining an 11.0 K/9 and just a 2.95 BB/9.
It’s a three-pitch mix with a low 90’s mph four-seamer complimented with a curveball and changeup. A good sign based on feedback from midwest scouts and college baseball analysts is Schweitzer’s ability to maintain velocity deep into his starts (89-91 mph). For some games, able to hit 93 mph after the sixth inning. A chance for a little bit more velocity with further development.
Sixth Round (Pick 191) – RHP Eric Adler, Wake Forest University
Draft Rankings – MLB: 242 | Baseball America: 230
Another project for the White Sox Player Development staff, Eric Adler, has big stuff pitching out of Wake Forest’s bullpen. Adler had a terrific Cape Cod performance last summer that didn’t transition to his college season. After posting just a 1.15 ERA in 15 appearances at The Cape, Adler’s 2022 ERA with Wake Forest was 8.86 in 22 appearances.
Ignoring the results from his Junior season, Adler’s pitch mix is enticing to scouts. His four-seam fastball can reach 98 mph with a slider and curveball that generate a lot of spin. A continued theme in this draft for the White Sox.
Adler will need to improve his command if he’s set on a fast track to being a major league reliever. In 2022, Adler had a 15.6 K/9 but an eye-opening 10.55 BB/9.
Seventh Round (Pick 221) – RHP Mark McLaughlin, University of Tennessee
Draft Rankings – Baseball America: 444
A terrific college performer, RHP Mark McLaughlin was dependable out of Tennessee’s bullpen during his career at Knoxville. A four-seam and curveball combination, McLaughlin made 47 appearances in his three years while posting an impressive 1.90 ERA. In 2022, McLaughlin did an excellent job reducing his walk rate from 5.5 BB/9 in 2021 to 3.45 BB/9. His strikeouts saw an uptick to 12.93 K/9 this season.
Eighth Round (Pick 251) – 2B Mario Camilletti, Central Michigan University
A college senior, Mario Camilletti could be a low bonus signing for the White Sox but brings a good batter’s eye to their farm system. Camilletti played three seasons at Oakland University before transferring to Central Michigan. In 122 games at Central Michigan, Camilletti drew 115 walks while striking out 68 times. Mostly a gap-to-gap hitter, Camilletti had 20 doubles in 2022 and finished with a .376/.498/.563 slash line. He’ll turn 24 years old next April.
Ninth Round (Pick 281) – C Michael Turner, University of Arkansas
Another discount signing for the White Sox, Michael Turner, transferred from Kent State to Arkansas this past season as a 5th-year senior. A left-handed bat, Turner hit .323/.388/.502 with 9 home runs and 53 RBI for the Razorbacks in 2022. Turner did not catch any games with the White Sox second-round pick, Peyton Pallette, but he was regarded by coaches in his work with a short-handed pitching staff in 2022.
Tenth Round (Pick 311) – 1B Tim Elko, Ole Miss
Tim Elko tore his ACL in 2021 and thought that was the end of his college career. After speaking with his parents, Elko decided to take a huge risk and continued playing on that torn ACL. Amazingly, Elko hit 16 HR with a .325/.444/.675 slash line.
Instead of signing last year, Elko decided to stick around in Oxford and play his fifth college season. He continued to bash, hitting 24 HR and 75 RBI with a .300/.407/.642 slash line helping Ole Miss win the College World Series. Swing and miss is an issue for his next level of development, but the White Sox are adding another high-character leader in Elko to their farm system.
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I know a lot of the MLB draft comes down to sign ability and the bonus pool but some of these guys seem like reaches based on their prospect rankings (or lack thereof). It’ll be interesting to see how the bonus pool gets allocated so we can determine who the Sox are counting on and who are essentially accounting gimmicks.
I’ve got a bad feeling about this draft class, but I also have the humility to admit that this year’s draft class is not something I know much about. However, several of these guys seem to have huge question marks and/or fatal flaws.
This line from the Adler write up kind of sums it up for me: “Ignoring the results from his Junior season…”
Yeesh.
I wonder what it will take to sign Adler. The slot value is $260k. If they think they can solve his command issues I can see why the velocity would be enticing, especially since he’s a reliever.
Every kid drafted outside the top 15 has huge question marks, pretty much. And I don’t think any of them has fatal flaws.
Based on commentary I’ve read, folks seem to agree this is a high risk, high reward draft for the Sox—for good or for ill. Even national writers seem to agree they got more upside out of their picks that you’d typically get in those slots. But when you draft 26th and you have no extra picks, you’ve got to take on a lot of risk in order to get upside. So, I don’t mind it. At 26, it’s unlikely that you get a Major Leaguer, anyway. Might as well roll some dice.
Agreed. I don’t have a problem with Shirley looking at the team’s resources and making these bets. Maybe one or two pays off.
I have a bigger problem with the team (Reinsdorf? Williams? Hahn? Does it matter at this point?) limiting the resources Shirley has by not offering qualifying offers to James McCann and Carlos Rodón in consecutive years. A comp pick for Rodón would have increased one of the smallest budgets of any team and might have allowed Shirley to make some different choices. Instead they went with cost certainty even though each player was an attractive free agent who signed for well more than the QO.
I hear you. On the other hand, not every pitcher taken outside of the top 15 had an ERA of almost 9.00 last year, as Adler did. Or came off of surgery and threw 110 pitches in a game. Or seemed to take steps back in the most recent year by which to judge performance. I’m okay with the upside play…I am just worried about the number of injured guys, guys we are kind of guessing on, etc. Part of that is drafting late in the first round. Part of it is drafting pitchers. And we’ll just have to see how it all plays out.
Q: Did Elko eventually have his ACL repaired?
A: Yes, about 13 months ago.
Cannon was a nice guy to snag there, by scouting report and national ranking he seems pretty comparable to Dane Dunning. Wonder if he fell to the third round bc the Sox negotiated a bigger bonus for him. The senior/5th-year guys are mostly meh, but Camilletti and Turner at least play up the middle with reasonable K rates.
https://twitter.com/JRFegan/status/1549183633348509696
Overslot for a guy who won’t pitch for a year because of TJ surgery? I understand as little about the MLB draft as I realized I did about NFL contracts when the Packers were over the cap and gave Aaron Jones a 4/$48 deal.
OT: I hate this.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34264386/all-star-game-decided-home-run-derby-tied-9-innings
I think they should settle a tie by racing around the bases in opposite directions.
I think they should have a spelling bee consisting only of players’ last names.
A contest on who can announce Hipolito Pichardo with the most flair
One of my favorite names from the baseball video game of my high school days, Front Page Sports Baseball Pro ’98!
If tied through nine innings, a two-man sack race should be held on consecutive Sundays until a winner can be crowned.
I’d prefer a coin flip to that.
Why? All Star games are more spectacle than competition. This is totally consistent
Home run derbies are boring. I could only stomach about 3 minutes last night.
Love this Day 2!
Cannon could very well be the best pitcher drafted this year with his floor. It’ll also be interesting to see if the White Sox can make this ‘draft control and teach velo’ trend work.
Really the entire day is guys that full needs in the organization or are easy to dream on.
Love Elko in the tenth as someone who gets really into the CWS.
Hopefully this comment ages poorly, but I’m pretty unimpressed. I liked the Schultz pick, but none of the guys from 2-10 look like future major leaguers to me.