2019 Great Falls Voyagers preview

The Great Falls Voyagers were the only White Sox affiliate to take home a league title last year, and they’ve turned over most of the talent from that team.

That said, the Pioneer League club has a lot going for it, at least in the position player ranks. Most of that “lot” is volatile, meaning that it might not amount to much at the end of the season, but there are enough advancing international signings and second-day prep picks on the roster to expect a learning curve.

Starting pitchers?

There’s probably a fifth starter somewhere, but with rookie leagues and guys coming off college workloads, there aren’t often firm five-day/five-inning plans. Herrera should be one of the starters, and the most interesting pitcher of the group. He’s a 21-year-old Dominican pitcher who has succeeded at the Dominican Summer League and Arizona Rookie League assignments since converting to pitching upon signing for $70,000 back in 2016.

Metzdorf was the Sox’ fifth-round pick, but as one of many senior signings on this roster, that particular status doesn’t mean much.

Relief pitchers?

Senior signings and third-day draft picks abound, but a few pitchers stand out. Mercedes is a converted infielder in his second season at trying pitching, and Pineda is a 21-year-old Dominican who had a really rough adjustment to stateside pitching last year.

After them you have Patel, a second-day draft pick and cricket player, and Pawelczyk, the 10th-rounder whose arm slot and slider give him a shot at relief.

The Voyagers are carrying 31 players out of a possible 35 on their roster, so it’ll take a week or two to see which players are getting the regular reps, and which ones are just assigned because they have to go somewhere.

Catchers

Sanchez stood out for his DSL performance as a 17-year-old in 2017 (.342/.383/.381), but got eaten alive in the AZL last year (.094/.197/.132). This year should be a tiebreaker. Greene shares a first and middle name with Ty Cobb, and walked more than he struck out in the AZL last year. Goldfarb is this year’s 24th-rounder.

Infielders

In terms of talent, Delgado has the most going for him. He hit .233/.309/.301 in the AZL after the Sox selected him out of high school in the fourth round last year, and played all his games at short to stave off the “third baseman” tag. In terms of backstory, Abbott, the high school water polo star-turned-eighth-round draft pick in 2017, has everybody beat. He’s moving up to Great Falls because it’s his last year of eligibility in the Pioneer League. He hit .190 with 71 strikeouts over 218 plate appearances over his first two seasons in the AZL. Mendoza is probably a better use of those first-base reps, as he hit .314/.381/.409 with just 12 strikeouts over 39 games in the AZL last year.

Maldonado was last year’s 11th-round prep pick out of Puerto Rico who struggled against AZL pitching last year (.150/.184/.167), but he was born in 2000. Nova needs to show in rookie ball what he showed in the DSL. The Cuban Quinteiro had a .436 OBP while being older/more experienced than the level. Rivera is a 19th-rounder signed out of highly regard Chipola Junior College.

Outfielders

Comas and Mieses join Maldonado as the three Voyagers born in 2000. Comas had by far the strongest stateside debut of the international outfielders signed in the class of 2016, hitting .306/.339/.388 as an 18-year-old in the AZL. Mieses struggled, but gets the Great Falls nod over Anthony Coronado and Josue Guerrero.

Weaver, the stringy speedster drafted from Georgia’s prep ranks in the seventh round of the 2018 draft, provided more offense than initially expected from his hit tool (.248/.367/.342). Simmons is a 20th-rounder who tore the cover off the ball at Virginia as a sophomore before losing his junior year to shoulder surgery. He hasn’t been the same since, but stands a chance at being the old-for-the-level college bat that explodes.

Take a second to support Sox Machine on Patreon
3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
PauliePaulie

I thought Bush would’ve been sent down to GF.

lil jimmy

Carter Love is on the bump tonight!
I can feel the love already!

jorgefabregas

Social promotion of the high school picks from last year. It’s interesting. I wonder how they did in instructs and extended.