White Sox Farm Report: Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
The White Sox have not gotten off to a good start to the season, as they are 6-22 and one of the worst teams in the major leagues. However, throughout the minor leagues, there are many exciting prospects playing well for the White Sox affiliates, which is something to get White Sox fans excited. Here are some of the players that are making waves in low-A for the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers:
The first player is one that White Sox fans might not be familiar with, and that is Albertson Asigen. Asigen is a left fielder from the Dominican Republic and is embarking on his first full season in the minor leagues. Asigen was released by the Red Sox in the offseason, and the White Sox made the smart move to sign him to a minor league deal, and that is looking like a steal.
Still just 22, he has plenty of potential to be a big league player. While he is likely slightly older than most players at low A, he will probably get promoted soon to play with people older than him.
To this point in the season, he is hitting .286 with two home runs and 10 RBIs. He has also added eight stolen bases and a very good .390 OBP. While he is not on any top prospect lists, he should start to pop up on people’s radar if he continues to play like this.
The next notable player is Rikuu Nishida. While his average is a bit low, he is still getting on base at a very high mark and doing everything else right. To this point he is hitting .217, but he has a .390 OBP, which is amazing. He has also added six RBIs and five stolen bases.
While the hits will come, as he makes contact at a very high rate, he still can change games when he gets on base as you can see from the video above. He has waked 17 times while just striking out 12, so he has an elite eye at the plate. He should likely get a promotion to A+ this season after being selected in the 11th round of the draft last year.
There is a pitcher that is worth mentioning in this article, as he has gotten off to an amazing start. That would be Seth Keener, a starting pitcher from Wake Forest. Keener currently has a 1.53 ERA in over 17 innings. He has struck out 23 batters in those innings, which is a great number.
He needs to cut down on the walks, as he has walked 14 in those 17 innings. If he can do that, he will be even more dominant, as he is holding batters to a .140 average against him. As a college draft pick, he could easily fly through the minors. I would not be surprised to see him in AA at the end of the year.
Despite being the lowest level in the minors, the White Sox still have a lot of talent here and you could see some of these names in Chicago in the next few years. Even though the White Sox themselves are not fun to watch, their minor league teams are, so it salvages the baseball season.