Grading The White Sox Top Prospects This Season: No.17, Ryan Burrowes

One of the lesser-known prospects on this list, Ryan Burrowes also happens to be one of the youngest on this list, mainly the reason why he is not as well known. He also has not made it in a game in the minor leagues yet, as they brought him up to Kannapolis at the end of the season, but he did not make an appearance in any games. I suspect that was so he could get situated for the start of next season.

Burrowes was signed out of Panama for 75,000 dollars last year as a 17-year-old. He would make his Dominican League debut in the same year, and he played very well, especially considering his age. He was almost a year younger than most of the other players in the league.

In the DSL, he would go on to hit .266 with a .393 OBP. For a 17-year-old playing with older players, that is pretty good. He would add three home runs and 18 RBIs, as well as 12 stolen bases. He has good speed, as the scouts grade him as an above-average runner. According to MLB, his play garnered a lot of attention around the league, as many teams began asking for him in trade talks. Clearly, the White Sox were smart enough to keep him, as they finally learned their lesson, as last time they traded a young, promising prospect, it did not turn out well for them.

This year coming stateside, Burrowes would play in the Arizona prospect league, where he would be almost two years younger than the average player. There, he would play pretty well. He would hit .260 with a .330 OBP. The average stayed the same, but the OBP went down a little bit. That can be chalked up to being a young, aggressive hitter, as they would prefer to get hits, rather than walk.

He would hit only 2 homeruns and add 15 RBIs, as well as 12 stolen bases. This was all done in only 43 games, so still a very small sample size. He definitely has the tools and the age to improve tremendously as he makes his way to the minor leagues this upcoming season.

In the field, Burrowes has played second, short, first, and right field. But, he majorily has stuck to the middle infield positions since moving stateside. He struggled at shortstop this year, making 14 errors, en route to a .908 fielding percentage. Luckily for him, that is one of the easier parts of the game to work on.

Again, he is still a very young and toolsy player that scouts like. He still has a lot to work on if he wants to make it to the pros, but it says a lot that he is already ranked this high on the Wthie Sox list before playing a game in the minor leagues.

I would grade him out to a B- for this past season. He was pretty good, but I was looking for a bit more improvement from the Domincican League to rookie ball in Arizona. I believe this next year will be much better and he could move up to the top-10 for the Sox prospect list.