White Sox summon Madrigal to Majors for debut

The White Sox have already seen Top-100 prospect Luis Robert make big contributions to their Major League club in the early days of the 2020 season. Now, they'll see what another bright young talent can do.

Chicago called up No. 39 overall prospect Nick Madrigal on Friday, the club announced. He will join the team in Kansas City for the start of a three-game series against the Royals. The White Sox designated right-handed reliever Kelvin Herrera for assignment to make room for Madrigal on both the 30- and 40-man rosters.

Prior to tonight’s series opener at Kansas City, the Chicago White Sox purchased the contract of second baseman Nick Madrigal from the Schaumburg training facility and designated right-handed pitcher Kelvin Herrera for assignment.

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 31, 2020

Since being taken with the fourth overall pick of the 2018 Draft out of Oregon State, Madrigal has developed a reputation for having one of the Minor Leagues' best overall hit tools, especially when it comes to making contact.

The 23-year-old second baseman hit .311/.377/.414 with four homers, five triples and 27 doubles in 120 games between Class A Advanced Winston-Salem, Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte last season. He walked 44 times and struck out on only 16 occasions over 532 plate appearances. That 3.0 percent K rate was the lowest in the Minor Leagues by far. Fellow Top-100 prospects Keibert Ruiz (6.3) and Wander Franco (7.1) ranked second and third in the category, respectively, among Minor Leaguers with at least 350 plate appearances, and even they struck out twice as often as Madrigal did.

All that contact, however, comes with a lack of power. MLB.com grades the right-handed hitter's pop at a 35 on the 20-80 scouting scale, in part because of his tendency to hit the ball on the ground, which he did 49.5 percent of the time last season. That said, Madrigal does provide value in other ways. His speed is considered plus -- as noted by his 35 stolen bases in 2019 -- and while he might be limited to second base by his arm, he could be a gifted defender at the keystone.

Madrigal entered the spring of what was meant to be his second full season in competition with Leury García and Danny Mendick, among others, for the starting second-base job on the South Side. However, he was assigned to the club's alternate-site roster when Chicago decided to open the season with more veteran options. Garcia started at second base in five of the club's six games so far but has gone just 4-for-22 (.182), though two of those four hits have been homers.

Madrigal's arrival could be a shot in the arm for a White Sox club that had hopes of competing for its first postseason spot since 2008. Chicago has gotten off to a 2-4 start and sits in the bottom of the AL Central standings entering Friday's action, 2 1/2 games behind Cleveland.

"It doesn’t matter if it’s a full season or a half season," Madrigal told MiLB.com back in May. "Whenever they’re keeping score, it’s important. ... I know [manager Rick Renteria] is going to want to win more than ever. The time to win is now in the White Sox organization."