Zach DeLoach
Left Fielder
2024 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking: 13
Charlotte Knights

A second round pick of the 2020 minidraft by the Seattle Mariners, Zach DeLoach had a steady climb up the ladder. The versatile outfielder’s climb landed him on the cusp of the majors in 2023, when at Triple-A Tacoma he topped 250 total bases and went for 23 homers and 88 RBIs, for a neat .286/.387/.481 slash.

Despite the downturn in organizations, fortunes smiled on DeLoach with the Feb. 3, 2024 trade to Chicago. While Prelander Berroa was tabbed as the headliner (as much for the reliever balance, in exchange for Sox bullpen breakout star Gregory Santos), DeLoach seemingly had as quick a path to the majors as anyone: He could roam right field, and lord knows the White Sox had openings there.

The fly in DeLoach’s ointment landed on the very same day he packed his bags east, as the White Sox also acquired outfielder Dominic Fletcher from Arizona. Fletcher became the presumed right fielder for the season, with DeLoach — helping himself none with a tepid spring — relegated again to Triple-A, where he wasn’t even the first outfield call-up (Oscar Colás had both tenure and hype).

So DeLoach took a slice of humble pie, bided his time, and mashed hell outta the ball in Charlotte.

You could hardly have imagined DeLoach’s 2024 going better in his first season in the org: .287/.375/.410 and 20-of-22 steals while playing all three outfield positions. When he finally did get the call to the majors (in May, for a brief stay, and in September, as one of the two White Sox call-ups), Zach could not translate his Triple-A success to Chicago.

At 26, the train may have left the station for Zach blossoming into anything more than a fourth outfielder or Triple-A All-Star, but he did his job in the minors in 2024.

2024 Sox Populi White Sox Minor League All-Star Team
Edgar Quero (C) (Player of the Year)
Caden Connor (1B)
Tim Elko (1B)
Wilmer Difo (2B)
Brooks Baldwin (SS)
Zach DeLoach (LF)
Mason Adams (RHSP)
Aldrin Batista (RHSP)
Ky Bush (LHSP)
Noah Schultz (LHSP) (Pitcher of the Year)
Drew Thorpe (RHSP)
Eric Adler (RHRP)
Adisyn Coffey (RHRP)

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Zach DeLoach  Photo: Laura Wolff/Charlotte Knights