Jake Berkland for the Sox

Edited Sunday at 10:20 PM1 day by Lukakke Appling
Sp

Seems to be a SS. The draft tracker doesn't seem to know his position lol.

38 steals in 24 games in the Northwoods League, found our Billy Hamilton for the playoffs.

I am happy with what they accomplished 11-20. Well rounded to start draft, physical freaks as it went on. Makes sense.

Hoping Roch proves we do not quite know what ceilings exist on players.

Final pick of the draft for the White Sox is Connor Fennell RHP from Vandy.

213 on O-S.

Scouting Report

Bats: R, Throws: R

The pride of the state of New Hampshire, Fennell burst onto the scene for the Commodores in 2025 after transferring into Nashville spending his freshman season throwing the ball for Dayton. He attacks the strike zone and gets ahead of hitters. Fennell possesses an intriguing blend of release traits, pitch shapes, deception and athleticism that has scouts bullish on what the final product could become.

It all begins with the fastball and it's a metric monster. Fennell launches from a 55 inch slot, over a foot lower than the average release height in major league baseball. Fennell generates huge extension down the bump and is able to maintain a reasonably vertical spin orientation on his fastball creating some carry and unique late hop. It's a fastball release, shape and approach angle hitters don't ordinarily see. Fennell gets roughly 14 inches of vertical carry and 14 inches of arm-side tail on his fastball with a sub -4 degree vertical approach angle. The pitch is very unique. That all being said, there is some room for growth. Fennell will tickle the low-90s but generally pitches more comfortably in the 87-89 range. It's not velocity that will work against major league hitters. He'll need to find another gear before he reaches the Double-A level. Still, the foundation is here for something exciting.

Fennell is fastball-heavy but does throw a dynamic changeup to left-handed hitters, and he throws it often. He creates tons of vertical depth on that pitch and elite fading action. It's more than 10 mph of separation off the fastball too. It's a 60-grade cambio.

Fennell throws a traditional cutter with stock shapes and traits. There's also a sweeping slider in the low-70s that he'll use to right-handed hitters.

Fennell is a strike-thrower with a unique set of traits and tools to get hitters out. He doesn't spin the ball particularly well and has yet to grow into the velocity necessary to find immediate success in pro ball. If he finds another few ticks in the velocity department, he's got a chance to go in the top few rounds.

274 on BA.

274. Connor Fennell RHP

Ht: 6'1" | Wt: 185 | B-T: R-R

School: Vanderbilt. Committed/Drafted: Never Drafted. Age At Draft: 21.2.

Fennell has one of the most unique arsenals among real 2026 draft prospects, as well as a solid three-year starter track record. He pitched with Dayton in 2024, then transferred to Vanderbilt, where he was used as a split starter/reliever in 2025 before taking on a full-time starting role in 2026. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound righthander owns a career 4.27 ERA in 212.2 innings, with a 28.9% strikeout rate and 5% walk rate. That performance track record will stand out to every team, but his mix is led by a fastball that averages just 88 mph. Despite just topping out at 91 mph, Fennell’s sidearm delivery and extremely flat approach angle has allowed the pitch to play up in college—opposing batters missed his fastball at a 26% clip—but when they made contact they hammered it to a .594 slugging percentage. He will have zero margin for error with his fastball command in pro ball, and even then it would be an extreme outlier pitch type to have success in pro ball when the average starting fastball velocity is closer to 94 mph. His go-to secondary is an upper-70s changeup, but he also throws a sweeping breaking ball that’s labeled a slider but is regularly in the upper 60s and a cutter that comes in around 80 mph. Everything about Fennell is unusual, but he is a plus control pitcher and still has some physical projection remaining.

Edited Sunday at 10:40 PM1 day by DirtySox

Lol.

Fennell is a fun funky guy. If they can somehow get that velocity up I'm paying more attention for sure.

And with that I now go sink into Post Draft/All-Star Break depression. 🫠

Half of these guys won't touch AA yet, they all sound amazing.

Via BA.

Chicago White Sox

Favorite pick: Cole Prosek, 2B, Magnolia Heights HS, Senatobia, Miss. (Round 2, Pick 41)

We had just nine players graded with 55-or-better tools in both hitting and power in this year’s class, and Prosek was one of them. Because of that high-level offensive profile, we expected him to go in the first round or quickly thereafter in the comp round. The 41st pick probably qualifies as that range, but to see Prosek be Chicago’s third player picked—after Roch Cholowsky and Landon Thome—was an impressive 1-2-3.

Draft class reaction: With the draft’s biggest bonus pool and the first overall pick, the White Sox tripled down on up-the-middle hitters with well-rounded offensive skill sets, then started taking on more risk with big stuff and big tools players who have control and hit questions.

12 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

Where are these guys going to play with Colson, Roch and Sam holding down the IF? Big time mistakes.

4 minutes ago, ron883 said:

Where are these guys going to play with Colson, Roch and Sam holding down the IF? Big time mistakes.

You assume all 3 will stick around

I'm just saying - I remember a certain White Sox player who made the majors the same year they were drafted. Mr Chris Sale.

Dare I say that Roch may follow the same path? Come on up Roch! We need your right handed bat.

42 minutes ago, Texsox said:

Half of these guys won't touch AA yet, they all sound amazing.

I’m excited about the other half

18 minutes ago, ron883 said:

Where are these guys going to play with Colson, Roch and Sam holding down the IF? Big time mistakes.

Prosek can DH

5 minutes ago, SkokieSox said:

Prosek can DH

Yeah we'll need a 1B when Jerry lets Mune walk.

Pick 2 (435 overall), White Sox: Cameron Johnson, LHP, Oklahoma (No. 250)
A first-round talent as a Florida high schooler, Johnson opted to go to LSU and transferred to Oklahoma after severe control issues as a freshman. Walks remain an issue, but the 6-foot-6 southpaw has overpowering stuff, led by a fastball up to 99 mph with sink and an upper-80s changeup that needs to be in the zone more. Johnson can be quite difficult on lefties, which gives him a nice floor as a reliever -- if he can iron out his mechanics.

mlb.com

50 minutes ago, Texsox said:

Half of these guys won't touch AA yet, they all sound amazing.

15 of them will be helping win the 2034 world series. Our fifth in 7 years.

Pick 2 (435 overall), White Sox: Cameron Johnson, LHP, Oklahoma (No. 250)
A first-round talent as a Florida high schooler, Johnson opted to go to LSU and transferred to Oklahoma after severe control issues as a freshman. Walks remain an issue, but the 6-foot-6 southpaw has overpowering stuff, led by a fastball up to 99 mph with sink and an upper-80s changeup that needs to be in the zone more. Johnson can be quite difficult on lefties, which gives him a nice floor as a reliever -- if he can iron out his mechanics.

mlb.com

B

Chicago White Sox

Average draft position 2016-25: 11.7

Major leaguers produced: 8

Total WAR: 27.2

Notable: Hagen Smith is close and 2025 prep shortstop Billy Carlson should get here and make these White Sox another perfect club the past decade. Garrett Crochet (No. 11 in 2020) is of course the gift that keeps giving, with three regulars in the lineup after they dealt him to Boston, and shortstop Colson Montgomery and first baseman Jacob Gonzalez are also contributing big to this year’s surprises. But they blew a No. 4 pick on infielder Nick Madrigal and No. 3 overall on first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who eventually figured it out – in Milwaukee.

USAtoday.com

Edited Sunday at 11:59 PM1 day by caulfield12

11 minutes ago, PaleAleSox said:

15 of them will be helping win the 2034 world series. Our fifth in 7 years.

Imagine a dynasty featuring another Thome, Thomas, and Konerko

Overall, I just feel like the Sox are on good hands. Wasn’t a crazy, blow the doors off draft. But it’s hard not to feel like this team is finally a group of baseball people picking baseball players.

That said man Landon thome next to Roch in a video I just saw. Will be interesting to see him with 25 lbs of muscle added on