Narrowly edging out Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang by just five votes, Tommy White finally found a resting spot at #11 on Athletics Nation’s Community Prospect List. Having just been selected 40th overall in the 2024 MLB Draft, you’d think he’d be ranked much higher on this list; MLB Pipeline has him 4th while Fangraphs ranked him 9th. Unfortunately, a rough professional debut at Low-A — especially for a 21-year-old advertised as a guaranteed bat — had AN questioning his nomination from the start.
2024 stats (A): 107 PA, .224/.303/.299, 2 doubles, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 9 BB, 21 K, 0 SB
However, it’s not rare for prospects to look inept in their first exposure to professional pitching and go on to be perfectly fine in the long run.