Chicago White Sox loaded with high-end prospects, with more trying to break through
Baseball America's updated organizational rankings are out, and the Chicago White Sox are still sitting near the top of the heap.
The Sox check in at No. 4 out of 30 major-league teams, and Baseball America is particularly impressed with Class AAA Charlotte center fielder Luis Robert and high A Winston-Salem first baseman Andrew Vaughn, the No. 3 overall pick in this year's draft.
Robert has climbed to third on the publication's Top 100 prospects list and Vaughn is ranked No. 23.
Current White Sox starting pitcher Dylan Cease checks in at No. 30 overall, injured starter Michael Kopech is right behind at 32, and Charlotte second baseman Nick Madrigal is rated No. 58.
The White Sox are trying to develop as much depth as possible moving into the 2020 season, and they do have some young talent in the system that doesn't get as much attention as Robert, Vaughn and Co.
Here are five under-the-radar prospects to keep an eye on:
Jonathan Stiever
Top prospects Kopech, Dane Dunning and Jimmy Lambert all are recovering from Tommy John surgery, leaving the Sox extremely thin on the pitching front.
Stiever, a fifth-round draft pick in 2018 out of Indiana, has put himself on the White Sox's radar.
A 6-feet-2, 205-pound righty from Cedarsburg, Wisconsin, Stiever has thrived since being promoted from low Class A Kannapolis to Winston-Salem.
Not only has he gone 5-3 with a 2.52 ERA in 8 starts at high A, Stiever has shown outstanding command while striking out 60 and walking only nine in 50 innings.
Gavin Sheets
The 2017 second-round pick out of Wake Forest is quietly putting a strong season together at AA Birmingham.
Sheets, a left-handed hitting first baseman, is batting .273/.348/.417 with 14 home runs. The son of former major-leaguer Larry Sheets leads the Southern League with 70 RBI.
Bryce Bush
He's batting .201/.285/.346 in 67 games at Kannapolis, but Bush is only 19 years old and his combination of power, speed and defensive versatility have put him in a good spot.
Codi Heuer
A sixth-round draft pick in 2018 out of Wichita State, Heuer struggled as a starting pitcher in his first professional season.
Moved to the bullpen this year, Heuer has done very well at Winston-Salem and Birmingham, going 5-2 with a 2.68 ERA and 8 saves. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound righty also has 56 strikeouts in 57 innings.
Tyler Johnson
A right-lat strain slowed Johnson at the start of the season, but the 23-year-old reliever is up and running now.
The right-hander, drafted on the fifth round out of South Carolina in 2017, has a combined 1.89 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 19 innings with the AZL White Sox, Winston-Salem and Birmingham.