Down On The Farm: Under The Radar Prospect Raking

As the minor league season progresses, one name has stood out for the White Sox, Tim Elko. The 10th-round pick out of Ole Miss has started off the season absolutely on fire and has shown no signs of slowing down at the plate.

He Won't Be In Kannapolis Much Longer

To date, he is hitting .336 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs in only 26 games so far. He has displayed elite power and has wreaked havoc on all of the pitchers in low-A. At this rate, he should be called up to Winston-Salem very soon.

As you can see, not only does Elko lead his own team in hits and homeruns, but he leads the league in hits, homeruns, and RBIs. I'm not sure what else he needs to prove before Rick Hahn calls in a promotion for him.

Unfortunately, he is a bit older than the typical player in low-A, as he did spend five years at the University of Mississippi. He really came on the last two years at college, hitting 40 homeruns with 130 RBIs. Those are some great numbers, and it seems like a combination of his age and strikeout rate caused him to fall to the 10th round.

He currently is not on the top-30 list of prospects for the White Sox, but once they update the list come midseason, he will definitely slot right into the top 20. If he keeps this streak of hitting up, we could see him make his way to Birmingham this year, with an invite to spring training next season. Hopefully that is the case, as the White Sox are dying to produce some more homegrown talent.

Others Are Performing Well

Tim Elko is not the only one that has performed well at low-A Kannapolis, as some top White Sox prospects have played well to start the season.

Peyton Pallette, the ninth-rated prospect in the White Sox system, has been off to an interesting start. He has pitched to a 4.85 ERA in 13 innings(five starts). But, he has held opponents to a .188 batting average against. The ERA seems to be inflated by walk issues, as he has walked nine to this point. But, on the bright side, he has struck out 11, and the .188 average against shows that he is showing some good stuff.

As a second-round pick in last year's draft, the White Sox have high expectations for him. If he can get the walks under control, then he could be a serious asset for the Sox down the road.

He clearly has the stuff to become a middle-of-the-rotation guy, so at this point, we hope that he can put it all together and show why the Sox picked him in the second round.

19th-rated prospect Tanner McDougal has looked good too, as he has pitched to a 3.86 ERA and held opponents to a .167 average against him. Since this is his first year at Kannapolis, he will probably need a bit longer before he gets a promotion to high-A.

Overall, Kannapolis has some very interesting prospects that could push their way onto the top-30 list for the White Sox, and maybe even to some top-100 national lists.