White Sox 2026 Top Prospects: No. 15 Is Ready To Breakout
After the last White Sox failed rebuild, they took a hit in terms of talent throughout the minor leagues. For a few years in a row, the White Sox ranked in the middle of the pack or towards the bottom in farm system rankings. However, towards the end of Rick Hahn’s tenure and to start Chris Getz’s tenure, the focus has been to build that talent pool back up.
Now, the White Sox farm system sits in the top half of the league and most outlets give them five to six top prospects, with a few more on the fringe of making the list. However, what differentiates this from the last rebuild is the fact that the farm system is significantly deeper, as they have some very intriguing players outside of the top “consensus” prospects.
This comes after many of their main guys on the roster have graduated off top prospect lists. Guys like Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, Colson Montgomery, etc. are no longer considered prospects, but are already making a contribution at the major league level. Despite this, the White Sox still have many top prospects, making this vastly different from the early 2020s, as once all the main players made their debut, the farm system was depleted.
As we start the season, we will dive into our White Sox top prospect list, getting to know some of the depth in the system. We started with number twenty, making our way to the best prospect in the White Sox system. We just unveiled our 16th ranked prospect, Mason Adams, in our last article. Here, we cover our 15th ranked prospect, Mathias LaCombe.
LaCombe was born in France and was selected by the White Sox in the 12th round of the 2023 draft from Cochise College in Arizona. Prior to that, he played for team France in the World Baseball Classic qualifiers in 2022 as a 20-year-old. He only pitched one inning, giving up three hits and one run while walking one. However, he did strike out two batters, showcasing his swing and miss ability.
However, shortly after being drafted, LaCombe was placed on the injured list, essentially wiping out his post draft play and his 2024 season.
LaCombe eventually made his minor-league debut in the Arizona Complex League last year. In 35.2 innings, LaCombe had a very good 2.25 ERA. He struck out 50 batters while walking just 11, en route to a .184 batting average against and an elite .95 WHIP. These are very impressive numbers, and it earned him a promotion to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers.
Perhaps the most intriguing White Sox prospect is Mathias LaCombe.
Grew up playing baseball in France, and played at Cochise (Ariz.) Junior College, where the Sox selected him in the 12th round in 2023 for an overslot $450,000.
FB sat 95, also threw slider, sweeper and changeup pic.twitter.com/c4UPr1a8IM
— Jesús Cano (@Jesus_Cano88) March 18, 2026
He went on to pitch 17.2 innings for the Cannon Ballers, en route to a solid 4.08 ERA. He struck out 23 batters, again showing his swing and miss stuff. While he did walk 13 batters, he had an extremely impressive .197 batting average against.
LaCombe looks to open the season with the Winston Salem Dash, as he will turn 24 during the season. If he gets off to a hot start, don’t be surprised to see him in AA or in AAA at some point this year. LaCombe is a very interesting prospect and could be a very good major leaguer, as he has some elite swing and miss stuff. Time will tell, but the White Sox have been very good at developing pitching, so let’s hope that continues with LaCombe.