Player: Nick Madrigal
Position: Second Baseman
Height: 5’7 Weight: 165 Age: 23 Bats/Throws: R/R Current Level: AAA Charlotte
MLB.com Rank: 4th in White Sox System (40th in MLB)
Drafted: 2018 (1st Round, 4th Overall by CHW)
College: Oregon State
Hometown: Elk Grove, CA
The first thing you notice when you see Madrigal is his height, but after being regarded as one of the best hitters in all of college baseball, the White Sox selected Madrigal 4th overall in 2018 and signed him for $6,411,400. He has incredible plate discipline and contact ability, only striking out 3% of the time (16 SOs in 532 PAs) last season between A+, AA, and AAA. He also had a .311 batting average between those three levels in 2019.
Scouting Grades
The obvious knock on Madrigal is power, as you might guess from his 5’7 build. That’s definitely the part of his game that’s a weakness. However, his superior hand-eye coordination allows for Madrigal to make contact at a very high rate. The high contact rate and plate discipline is more important to me as he could still find some power in the future, but even without it, he can make a difference. His above average speed makes him a base-stealing threat. Defensively he has hands good enough to play shortstop, but his arm suits him better at second base.
Madrigal is going to be exciting to pay attention to and could break into the White Sox lineup in either 2020 or 2021. He could make a great high on-base and contact guy to set the stage for guys like Jose Abreu, Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez.
Nick Madrigal Stats
