3 White Sox prospects make Baseball America's Top 100

The White Sox are playing as I type this Tuesday night, but I'm not watching the game. I'm indifferent about any outcomes for the rest of the 2023 season.

Instead, I'm writing a blog about prospects, while a game between the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves is on my TV.

It's obnoxious that it's come to this, but here we are. Anyway, I was flipping through the August edition of Baseball America when I saw that publication's updated Top 100 list. For the first time in quite some time, that list contains three White Sox prospects. In case you were wondering, here they are:

Colson Montgomery, SS (No. 22). The Sox's 2021 first-round pick missed the start of the season with an oblique injury, which has limited him to 36 games. Upon his return, the shortstop tore up the Arizona Complex League, posting a 1.099 OPS in 10 games. 

Montgomery had no difficulties once he was promoted to High-A Winston-Salem, either, where he had a 1.088 OPS with three home runs and three doubles in 17 games. Opposing pitchers walked him 20 times, including three times intentionally.

So, the Sox promoted Montgomery to Double-A Birmingham. In nine games there, he's batting .179/.465/.357. The OPS is .822, and it's mostly because of a high on-base profile. Montgomery has walked 10 times (against 10 strikeouts) in those nine games. This is obviously a small sample size. We'll see if he adjusts to the level between now and the end of the year.

Noah Schultz, LHP (No. 35). Schultz, who just turned 20 years old earlier this month, was the Sox's first-round draft pick in 2022. A strained flexor muscle in his left arm delayed Schultz's season debut until June 2, but he's been overpowering in Low-A Kannapolis thus far.

They are keeping this kid on a strict innings count -- he's only thrown 27 innings in 10 starts. But across those 10 starts, he did not allow an earned run in nine of them. He had one bad outing where he gave up four earned runs, leaving his ERA at 2.33.

Schultz has struck out 38 and walked only six in those 27 innings. He's allowed 17 hits. Right now, the whole deal is to build up stamina and arm strength.

Edgar Quero, C (No. 75). In this magazine, Quero is still listed as a member of the Los Angeles Angels. The 20-year-old catcher was traded to the White Sox, along with pitcher Ky Bush, in exchange for pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez last month.

The early returns for this switch-hitting catcher are good since he joined Double-A Birmingham. Quero has caught 12 games, batting .326/.377/.370. He's yet to hit his first home run as a member of the Sox organization, but he does have 12 RBIs.

Quero will take his walks. He has four of them with the Barons (against six strikeouts). For the season, he's walked 59 times and struck out 59 times, so he's shown good knowledge of the strike zone, which is something the Sox need.

He is young for the level, so I'm going to pump the brakes on anyone who thinks Quero can get to the majors in 2024. It's possible, but unlikely. The most likely scenario is he starts in Birmingham again next year, and hopefully earns a promotion to Triple-A Charlotte. Maybe he's the Sox catcher in 2025, if all goes well.

One other prospect to note: Baseball America picked a Minor League Player of the Year for all 30 organizations at midseason. Montgomery and Schultz weren't going to get this nod for the Sox, because of their injuries. 

Instead, the magazine bestowed that honor upon ... outfielder Terrell Tatum.

Tatum, who just turned 24, had an exceptional start to the year at High-A Winston Salem. He played 60 games there, batting .268/.434/.421. Note the high on-base percentage. Tatum drew 58 walks in those 60 games, and he turned a bunch of them into doubles. He had 32 steals for the Dash.

That earned him a promotion to Double-A Birmingham. The OBP is down a little bit there in 38 games, but the numbers are still encouraging on the whole: .262/.390/.376. Tatum has swiped 10 bags for the Barons, which puts him at 42 steals for the season.

A speedy outfielder who gets on base and steals bases? Umm, yeah, the Sox need that skill set, right? It will be interesting to see if Tatum can play his way into the team's plans.