Curtis Mead is one of the most intriguing players the White Sox acquired before the trade deadline, but not for his body of work on the field.
Mead was one of three players the White Sox acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Adrian Houser, who was set to hit free agency at the end of the season. The 24-year-old Australian has already logged 111 MLB games over the past three seasons and even started Games 1 and 2 of the 2024 AL Wild Card Series for Tampa Bay.
Though he's batting just .238 with a .629 OPS over 320 at-bats, Mead still offers plenty of untapped offensive upside. That offensive upside earned him a spot among the top 100 prospects for several seasons, including reaching a No. 33 ranking on MLB.com’s 2023 Top 100 list.
While he was in the minor leagues, he flashed some of that potential that made him such a highly touted prospect. In 2021, he posted a .911 OPS, earning him a promotion to Triple-A at the end of the year. An elbow strain limited him to just 76 games in 2022, but he still managed to slash .298/.390/.532 with 13 homers and 50 RBIs across the Double-A and Triple-A levels. He finally reached the big league level in 2023, after once again posting an OPS of .900 in 61 games at the Triple-A level. That body of work shows he is capable of producing at the plate.
While he has faced challenges at the MLB level, there’s reason to believe a change of scenery could help unlock his potential. New White Sox director of hitting, Ryan Fuller, has already made a positive impact across the organization by emphasizing improved pitch selection and a more aggressive approach to elevating the ball.
Of the nine hitters who have logged at least 130 at-bats with the White Sox this season, seven have increased their pull rate on balls hit in the air. This includes Miguel Vargas, Lenyn Sosa, and Mike Tauchman, who are all having some of the best offensive seasons of their careers.
Mead already brings with him excellent bat speed. This season, he has also made notable strides in plate discipline, cutting his chase rate to 24% and his whiff rate to 19.4%. Both marks would rank among the best in MLB if he had enough at-bats to qualify.
After posting a .278 OBP in April, Mead has rebounded by posting a .438 OBP in June. That improved plate discipline will serve him well in a White Sox lineup that has made real strides in their pitch selection this season.
However, he has had issues pulling the bar in the air, doing so at just a 12% clip this season. Mead has struggled to find consistent playing time in Tampa Bay, which has hindered his ability to get into a rhythm at the plate. Getting him into Fuller’s hitting lab and some extended playing time could give him the tools he needs to finally develop into the offensive force that made him such a highly regarded prospect.
