Eric Adler
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher
2024 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking: 33
Birmingham Barons

Selected in the sixth round of the 2022 draft out of Wake Forest, Eric Adler has had a stellar career in the Chicago White Sox farm system. Adler, like many, began with the ACL White Sox right out of college before moving up to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, where he returned to begin the 2023 season. With the Ballers and the High-A Winston-Salem Dash, he greatly improved his ERA (5.79 to 2.87) in his second season, and the success did not stop heading into 2024.

Adler began this season with the Dash, and he got off to a white-hot start. In nine innings (eight games) with Winston-Salem, he only allowed three hits and walked four batters, and ended up going 5-for-5 in save opportunities. Even better, Adler didn’t give up a single run for his first eight appearances, and batters couldn’t touch him — proven by a .109 opponent batting average. Adler was efficient at forcing ground balls, with a 64% GB%. On top of the 0.00 ERA, he posted a 1.78 FIP, and although eight games is a small sample size, a FIP that low is almost unheard of.

Spoiler alert: Adler’s strong performance with the Dash got him promoted to the Double-A Birmingham Barons on May 1. Teams were still only hitting .189 on average against him, but he struggled with walking batters after the promotion. In Birmingham, Adler gave up 19 earned runs amounting to a 4.06 ERA. In his first outing with the Barons, he gave up three runs (two earned) in one inning, so he started out with an aggressive 18.00 ERA and had to chisel that down. Adler only gave up five total hits in May and in six of the nine games that he appeared in, he didn’t give up any at all.

Adler remained solid through most of June, but he ended up on the IL for about a month before joining the Barons again in August. The righty came back refreshed, posting a 2.08 ERA on 8 2/3 innings, but then started off September with a rough outing where he gave up four runs (three earned) on one hit — a homer. That game was the outlier, however, as opponents weren’t even batting over .100 against him (.083) that month, and Adler rarely gives up home runs. In fact, he has only given up two home runs in his 76 inning minor league career.

Ultimately, Adler ended up with a 3.15 ERA in 2024 across 40 innings, and he also racked up 52 strikeouts. His fastball can hang in the mid-to-upper 90s, and batters have long proven that he can be hard to hit against.

Congrats to Eric for a great season. He will be one to watch as he continues to progress through an organization who desperately could benefit from a reloaded bullpen.

2024 Sox Populi White Sox Minor League All-Star Team
Edgar Quero (C) (Player of the Year)
Brooks Baldwin (SS)
Noah Schultz (LHSP) (Pitcher of the Year)
Drew Thorpe (RHSP)
Eric Adler (RHRP)

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Eric Adler (No. 18) photo in bullpen: Birmingham Barons