If someone was looking over the prospect list of the Chicago White Sox it’d be easy to be fixated with touted names like Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert and Dane Dunning. But over the last 40 games, Micker Adolfo (@MickerAdolfoZap) has done almost everything he can to stand out on the marquee.
.@WSDashBaseball OF Micker Adolfo currently ranks seventh in the Carolina League among all hitters, first in doubles and fifth in on-base percentage.
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— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 17, 2018
Coming off a Carolina League Player of the Month in April, Adolfo has kept things going for Winston-Salem. His .300 batting average (as of May 22) ranks tenth amongst qualified hitters through Monday’s games. Nineteen of his 45 hits are for extra bases. That includes six home runs and 12 doubles (a share of 2nd best in the league). Though his BABIP sits at .394, high for even him, there’s still growth at the plate.
The 21-year-old has seen positive change in BB% and K%. Through his 2017 season he walked a meager 6.6% and struck out at 31.5%. They have flipped for the better and now Adolfo carries an improved BB% at 11.5 and strikes out almost 4.5 points less. (27.1%) And according to Adolfo himself, he’s been more selective. “That was an issue in the past, where my first move would be to pull off the ball, but I feel like I’ve got power to all fields so I can let the ball get deep and hit it out to right or right-center and if a pitcher makes a mistake and leaves it inside, trust that my hands are quick enough to get to that inside pitch,” Adolfo shared with MLB.com in late April. “Don’t get me wrong: I’m still young and sometimes I chase bad pitches, but it’s not as aggressive at it was before. I know what pitches I can drive, what pitches I can get in certain counts.”
These are encouraging signs for a prospect who is coming off a 112-game 2017, his longest season of his career. In 2015, Adolfo broke his leg sliding into home after just 22 games in the AZL. In 2016 he also spent time on the DL in Class A Kannapolis, finishing with only 263 at bats. Those familiar with the White Sox system may have some fatigue on Adolfo. He was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2013. He began the season at No .14 on our 2018 White Sox Top 50 Prospects but is currently as high as the White Sox #9 prospect on Fangraphs.
It’s possible a 2019 spring-training invite could turn into a cup of coffee that September. At the very least, I expect him ending 2018 with AA Birmingham, where he has already earned his chance at replacing Eloy Jimenez when the Majors takes him away.
Featured image of Micker Adolfo – Winston-Salem Dash on Twitter
Marketing director by day and fantasy baseballer just before bed. That’s me.
Well, more preciously and less cliched, I'm Isaiah May. Fantasy baseball, prospects, and minor leaguers have recently become a passion of mine.
For me, minor league baseball contains all the stories, the sport and a comfort in quirkiness that I want to apply to my life in Northeast Nebraska.
There are successes, there are heartbreaks. It’s business sure, but most of all it's passion, and I’m excited to share my experiences, observations and often irrelevant opinions living that minor-league lifestyle. I’ll primarily be covering the Chicago White Sox minor league system but also hope to branch out and provide some other MiLB content. Follow me on Twitter @wifflemay.
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Isaiah Mayhttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/wifflemay/
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