The Chicago White Sox have a lot of young talent, and it is the time of the year when the prospect rankings update. There are a lot of names changing their rankings, but one has significantly climbed to a point worth noting. Let’s take a deeper dive into the White Sox’s prospect rankings and discuss who has climbed the highest from last season’s rankings.
Tanner McDougal is the highest-climbing prospect for the Chicago White Sox
Chris Getz and Will Venable are building the Chicago White Sox’s future – Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
MLB’s Jim Callis wrote an article exploring the top White Sox prospects heading into the 2026 season. Chicago has 15 of their top 3o prospects being pitchers (eight RHP, seven LHP). In the article, he also explored the highest-rising prospect in the system and mentioned that right-handed pitcher Tanner McDougal has climbed from being unranked in 2025 to now being the sixth-ranked prospect in the organization. Below is what Callis wrote about McDougal:
“After command woes led to a demotion to Single-A in July 2024, he dedicated himself to improving his conditioning and did a much better job locating his premium stuff last season.”
McDougal was selected in the fifth round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of high school. Last season, he was demoted from Double-A Birmingham to Winston-Salem. Overall, he made 28 starts and was 3-5 with a 3.26 ERA and 136 strikeouts in 113.1 innings. He has a four-pitch arsenal (fastball, curveball, slider, changeup) and has reached 100 MPH on his fastball.
There is a chance that McDougal could climb up the organizational depth chart and find his way to pitching in MLB games late in the season. It will be intriguing to see how he does in 2025 and if he is able to find a consistent way to go deeper into games to make him a more valuable asset.
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