by Mike Koepp on February 3, 2012
Jeffrey Soptic, RHP Chicago White Sox
4/8/1991
Height: 6′ 6″, Weight: 210
Jeffrey Soptic was selected in the 3rd round of the 2011 MLB June Amateur Draft by the Chicago White Sox. In 2009, he was picked by the Royals in the 43rd round out of Shawnee Mission East High School. Instead he opted to continue his education by attending Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, KS. Soptic caught the eye of both teams with his velocity as he hit triple digits on the radar gun. He had his first taste as a pro last year in the Appalachian League for the Bristol White Sox. But the three games don’t yet give us much of a gauge of what we think he’ll become.
Jeffrey Soptic was recently ranked at 356° in our Baseball Instinct 360°. Here’s what we had to say about him:
356°. Jeff Soptic, RHP White Sox 4/8/1991 - Soptic is a radar gun darling, with the ability to light it up triple digits. A big frame and easy action with that velo is something you can’t teach. He was hit hard in CC though and has to learn to pitch low in the zone. Might be best suited to learn a sinker and develop his slider. Projects as a RP due to well below average secondaries. ETA 2014. [click to continue…]
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by David Reiffer on January 26, 2012
Addison Reed, RHP, Chicago White Sox
DOB: 12/27/1988
Height: 6’4″ Weight: 215
Addison had no trouble staying under the radar as a 3rd round selection out of San Diego State University from 2010. Being a teammate of Stephen Strasburg will do that to you. In 2011, however, his sleeper status evaporated as he rolled through four minor league levels, starting in Single A Kannapolis through Triple A Charlotte in 2011, eventually landing in the majors. Reed struck out 111 batters in 78.1 innings pitched while walking only 14 over those four levels. During 2011′s whirlwind tour through the minor leagues, Reed’s ERA never scored higher than 1.59. Though with a pitifully low amount of data, his 7 major league innings saw his ERA jump to 3.38 while striking out 12 and walking just one with a painfully low ground ball rate at 20% and a sky-high .474 BABIP. So Reed does have to prove that he’s ready for primetime yet.
After that banner season for the 23-year-old, it’s no surprise that he also found his way into our 2012 Baseball Instinct 360°. Here’s what we said:
123°. Addison Reed, RHP, White Sox, 12/27/1988 – Chris Sale part deux? It sure seems that way. Clearly, with the White Sox dealing Santos and pushing Sale to the rotation they feel that they have the real deal in Reed. You fantasy baseball types out there may want to remember this come auction/draft day or make a push for trading for him in those keeper leagues with farm systems. ETA 2012. [click to continue…]
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by Mike Koepp on January 1, 2012
The Padres and White Sox decided to do one last deal of 2011. Carlos Quentin rejoins Josh Byrnes who as general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks traded him to Chicago. Byrnes said this of Quentin’s acquisition, “He obviously went out and did some big things for the White Sox. Having a chance to get him back became very appealing this off season.”. Now the new Padres general manager will be seeing how he can do playing left field for San Diego every day. The White Sox received right-handed pitcher Simon Castro and left-handed pitcher Pedro Hernandez. San Diego has had a huge power outage since Adrian Gonzalez was sent to Boston for prospects last spring. The trade makes a lot of sense for Friar fans and this might be one in a series of moves for both teams as spring training rapidly approaches.
Simon Castro was one of San Diego’s top prospects at about this time last year. Castro pitched well enough in 2010 to appear in the Futures Game while pitching for San Antonio with a 2.92 ERA and 107 K in 130 Innings. This season he was disappointing in his stint at Double-A, 4.33 ERA 73 K, 95 hits in 89 innings and was awful at Triple-A, 10.17 ERA, 21 K, 37 hits in 26 innings. Pedro Hernandez, was 10-3 with a 3.49 ERA in 2011. The 23-year-old lefty has a low to mid 90s fastball and a very good change-up. [click to continue…]
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by George Utter on December 14, 2011
Today’s edition of Baseball Instinct’s top 10 prospect list is going to be a unique one for us. While we’ve delivered to you our own analysis of the top prospects within certain organization, we’ve also brought to you several top 10′s that we’ve worked with team based sites who have what I like to call a more focused view on their respected team. In this version, we are going to take on the Chicago White Sox and we are going to share the spotlight with a site that does what we do, but in their own unique and passionate way. That site being Seedlings to Stars on the Fansided Network. The Guys at “S2S” (as its coined), Wally Fish and Nathaniel Stoltz, along with their staff, work very hard to bring a quality product to their readers. Like Baseball Instinct, this dynamic site is enjoying a huge surge in popularity. Wally and I often reference each other’s sites in our posts and links, so teaming up on an article just seemed to make sense. [click to continue…]
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