White Sox follow trend, select high school SS Carlson at No. 10
About an hour after he was chosen with the 10th pick of Sunday's MLB draft, shortstop Billy Carlson showed he's already invested in the White Sox.
Before signing off a Zoom call with Chicago reporters, Carlson asked whom the Sox took with their second-round pick. The answer was outfielder Jaden Fauske from Nazareth Academy in LaGrange Park.
“OK, I know him,” Carlson said. “I haven't seen him play too much, honestly. He kind of burst onto the scene late last summer, and I was like, 'Oh, this guy's a dog.' But, yeah, I've met him before, great kid and super happy to have him as a teammate.”
The White Sox followed the early draft trend. Carlson, from Corona, Calif., was the fifth high school shortstop taken in the first 10 picks.
Some scouting reports had him rated as the best defender of the group. While the Sox have used rookies Chase Meidroth and Colson Montgomery at shortstop for much of this season, the 6-foot-1 Carlson may eventually be the best fir for the job.
He was an accomplished pitcher during his high school years and threw in the 90s, so his arm and athleticism are his best traits.
Corona High School made history with two top-10 picks. Pitcher Seth Rodriguez went No. 6 to Pittsburgh and a third Corona senior, Brady Elbel, was chosen by Milwaukee with the 32nd pick.
“I just got off FaceTime with (Rodriguez) not too long ago … and we were just shedding a little bit of tears, just happy tears and we're both excited to see how our careers are going to unfold,” he said.
Carlson also mentioned a Chicago connection through his mother.
“My mom has a really, really big family,” he said. “She's Mexican and we always had a lot of family in Chicago and it's crazy that now I'm coming to Chicago. Getting to know them these next few years will probably be pretty awesome.”
The scouting report says the right-handed Carlson makes good contact at the plate, but his defense might be ahead of his offense. He mentioned a workout with the White Sox as proof he can hit.
“I got to do a few workouts with them, meet the whole staff and stuff,” Carlson said. “We did it at University of Tennessee, where I was committed for college. I was hitting a few bombs, so I was pretty confident that I performed well and I think they thought the same.
“I think (his hitting) gets slept on a little bit. I feel like this spring, I showed I can bang with the best of them and really have some thump for my size. I feel like there's a lot of good years coming with the stick and I don't think that needs to be a worry for anyone.”
The 6-foot-3, left-handed hitting Fauske is an LSU commit who played some catcher early in high school. He was Gatorade player of the year in Illinois.
In the third round, the Sox chose Georgia Tech shortstop Kyle Lodise, who hit .329 with 16 home runs this spring. He spent his first two years of college at Division II Augusta University.