In less than two weeks, pitchers and catchers will report to Spring Training for the White Sox, officially transitioning to the 2025 season. It will signal the end of the dreadful 2024 season, allowing the players who still remain on the roster to purge the historically bad season from their minds.
The Opening Day roster will look very different than it did last year, and as the year progresses, some of the White Sox top prospects will join the roster as they earn promotions to Chicago. There are many variables to how a player will perform in a given season, but certain baseball reference websites try to give their best evaluation on how a player will perform for the upcoming season.
Each year, FanGraphs releases their Steamer projections on how they believe each player will perform in the upcoming year. We will be taking a look at each player’s 2025 projections as we approach Spring Training.
The next player we will take a look at is Chase Meidroth, someone that White Sox fans should begin to familiarize themselves with. Meidroth was one of the four players acquired by the White Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade back in December.
FanGraphs projects Meidroth to play only 47 games with the White Sox, so they aren't sure if he will break camp with the team. At this point it is unclear if he will, but he certainly will get a chance.
Despite the fact they project him to only play in 47 games, they are still very high on him. They project him to slash .243/.356/.345 with three homeruns, 16 RBIs, and three stolen bases which is good for a .9 WAR. When you project that over a full season, that is close to a 3 WAR season, which would be a fantastic season for an under the radar rookie.
FanGraphs is clearly high on Meidroth's ability to get on base, and they have good reason to be. In 122 games at AAA last season, Meidroth had an excellent .437 OBP, which was the best at the AAA level by almost 40 points.
Chase Meidroth in AAA last season.
— Mike (@ChiSoxFanMike) December 13, 2024
.293 batting average
.437 on-base percentage
20 doubles
13 stolen bases
105 walks to 71 strikeouts
I’m actually very excited about this guy.pic.twitter.com/h0d5irdbrj
The White Sox have been targeting players that have shown the ability to get on base and Meidroth should fit that bill for them. If Meidroth doesn't make the team out of Spring Training, it is likely he makes it to Chicago sooner rather than later.
If things go well, Meidroth should turn out to be what most fans thought Nick Madrigal was going to be when the White Sox selected him with a top-5 pick just a few years ago.
