Top Outfield Prospect Coming Back to White Sox

Somehow, some way, the Chicago White Sox are only 5.5 games back of the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central Division. Well, the some way is that the AL Central does not have a single team above .500 heading into the Fourth of July. With six games left before the All-Star break, the White Sox aren't letting any more time pass by to make an upgrade in the outfield, as the team is reportedly calling up left-handed hitter Oscar Colas from Triple-A.

According to Francys Romero, Colas will be joining the White Sox on Tuesday, when they begin a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at home.

Colas has been on a tear the past few weeks with the Charlotte Knights. On Sunday, the 24-year-old extended his hit streak to 10 games. During the hit-streak, Colas has gone 15-for-42 at the plate, which also includes a stretch of hitting 7 home runs in 6 games.

The rookie earned a spot on the White Sox Opening Day roster with a solid showing in spring training, but after struggling through the first month of the season the team demoted Colas back to the minor leagues, sending him to Triple-A, where he only played in 7 games at the end of the 2022 season.

For the past two months Colas has been raking with the Knights, slashing .293/.358/.508, with 9 home runs, 14 doubles, a 21.2 K% and 8.5 BB% in 48 games.

At the start of the regular season, Colas played in 25 games in his first stint in the major leagues with the White Sox and he just wasn't getting the job done. The lefty slashed .211/.265/.276, good enough for a measly .541 OPS and 50 wRC+. Colas wasn't doing much damage when his bat did find the ball, hitting just one home run and two doubles in 84 plate appearances.

So, the White Sox made a change, sent Colas to the minors so he could work on getting better, but meanwhile Chicago has still struggled to find anyone to consistently provide anything on offense from the right field position.

From May 2, through July 2, White Sox right fielders have combined for a 99 wRC+, ranking 19th best among all 30 MLB teams. Gavin Sheets, Clint Frazier, Billy Hamilton, Jake Marisnick and Adam Haseley have all played in right field for the White Sox this season besides Colas and outside of a handful of hot streaks from a couple of those guys, none have been able to show they deserve the majority of the playing time out there.

Since then, Marisnick was traded to the Detroit Tigers, while Hamilton got injured and was then removed from the White Sox 40-man roster.

Eloy Jimenez has been by far the most valuable right fielder for the White Sox this season. He's started 13 games in right and in those games Jimenez has slashed .333/.389/.646, with 4 home runs in 54 plate appearances.

As far as the corresponding move to make room on the 26-man roster, Clint Frazier is a good guess as the guy who will be out. The 28-year-old has been up since the middle of May, but after a solid first 10-day stretch with the White Sox Frazier has been brutal at the plate. Overall, Frazier is slashing .197/.303/.242 in 76 plate appearances with Chicago this season.