Jack Young – Iowa

In the ninth round, the White Sox selected another reliever — Jack Young from the University of Iowa. Young, like fifth rounder Sam Antonacci, is a D1 transfer who started his colligate career playing at a top Illinois JUCO. After posting a 5.04 ERA across parts of four seasons at Parkland College, Young moved to the Big 10 in 2023 where he made just eight appearances for the Hawkeyes. Things clicked in 2024, as he threw 32.2 innings with a 2.76 ERA and 47 strikeouts to only 12 walks while leading the team in saves with four.

If you read the previous piece in this series that highlighted seventh and eighth round picks, Phil Fox and Aaron Combs, Young’s release traits won’t surprise you. The club definitely had a target profile in this year’s draft. Young is another low release height pitcher. He ranges from 3’11” on his Sinker to 4’7” on his 4-Seamer on average. Despite only starting two games over 62 total collegiate appearances, Young featured five different pitches at Iowa in 2024: 4-Seamer, Sweeper, Changeup, Sinker and Cutter.

To right-handed hitters, Young upped his Sinker usage (with that lowered release height) to not only try and get in on their hands with his 86th percentile arm-side run, but to also play off his ultra-high spin Sweeper, a pitch that he threw at a 47% clip to righties. Those two pitches had over 35 inches of horizontal movement separation, and that combo very unsurprisingly gave right-handers fits. They hit .167 with just a .277 wOBA against Young in 2024.

Lefties hit his 4-seamer well (.333 BA, .815 SLG), a pitch that he threw for strikes at a high clip, but it found the middle of the plate too often and was at 90-92 mph with low ride. Other than working to add a few ticks to his velocity, getting Young to locate his 4-seamer up in the zone with more efficiency should allow him to take better advantage of that release height and create a flatter angle for those lefties to deal with. Young also has a good fading Changeup that he used 29% of the time versus left-handers and they hit just .095 with zero extra base hits and a 36% Whiff rate.

Due to his lack of velocity, Young is forced to rely on his big Sweeper and contrasting Fastball movement to miss barrels. He does have very defined plans for attacking lefties and righties respectively, and that advanced nature is paramount for an older reliever picked in the top ten rounds. The Sox did save a lot money here bonus pool-wise to help sign some of the prep players they selected to round out day one.

Cole McConnell – Louisiana Tech

McConnell is a Senior-sign lefty outfielder that played parts of five seasons at Louisiana Tech. After a slow Freshman year that was cut short due to the cancellation of the 2020 season, he OPS’d .902 and .952 respectively through his Sophomore and Junior seasons. He returned to school after going undrafted in the 2022 Draft, but only played in Tech’s first series of the 2023 season because he was suspended indefinitely for a “violation of team rules”.

It’s an interesting situation. Without knowing the exact reasoning behind the suspension, a season-long penalty is usually due to a serious infraction. However, the fact that McConnell returned to Louisiana Tech for the 2024 season with Head Coach Lane Burroughs calling him “an unbelievable human being and one of the most popular guys on the team”, the relationship was clearly mended.

McConnell took advantage of his opportunity, slashing .378/.461/.671 with 18 HR, 71 RBI and a 159 wRC+. His strengths are his quality of contact (106.6 mph 90th Percentile Exit Velo, 63% Hard Hit%, 18% Barrels) that’s partly derived from 72 mph average Bat Speed combined with a very solid 87.4% Zone Contact%.

In this year’s draft class, there were a total of six hitters that had 2024 campaigns that consisted of:

• At least a 106 mph EV 90
• At least a 72-mph average Bat Speed
• At least an 87% Zone Contact%
• At least 250 PA

That group is Travis Bazzana (pick #1), Charlie Condon (pick #3), Ryan Waldschmidt (pick #31), Blake Burke (Pick #34), Cole McConnell (pick #289), Brandon Eike (pick #393) – an impressive bunch that put up huge numbers in 2024. Another plus for McConnell is his resume vs. 93+ mph pitches throughout his college career in which he hit .333 and slugged .522 over 83 PA.

Other than being a Senior that turns 24 next month, there are some weaknesses in McConnell’s offensive profile. He’s got some swing and miss concerns, particularly on breaking balls with a 31% Whiff rate and chasing at 38% which led to a 24.1% strikeout rate. These factors contributed to a 76 SD+, meaning his swing decisions were 24% below the division 1 average. With a walk rate less than 10%, the K:BB ratio didn’t grade well among other ’24 draftees.

Even with some question marks heading into pro ball, McConnell is coming off a huge season leading a good Louisiana Tech team in one of the better mid-major conferences in the country. He’s got a very simple set up at the plate with quiet pre-pitch action. His swing and high hands finish from the left side has some Cody Bellinger similarities to it.

Featured image courtesy of Louisiana Tech Athletics