After selecting Colson Montgomery in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft, Scouting Director Mike Shirley continues to focus on prep picks with the addition of Wes Kath in round two. For the White Sox, they don’t have as much total pool money this year than they have in previous years. However, they are making the most of their selections thus far in the draft.
Wes Kath is a left-handed hitting shortstop from Desert Mountain High School in Arizona. At 6’3″ and 200 pounds, Kath comes over to the White Sox organization with a 55-grade hit tool and 60-grade arm, according to MLB Pipeline. Those are his best graded tools, but not all he has to his name.
He shows the ability to impact the ball consistently and has become more of an aggressive hitter towards the end of his prep career, which has worked in his favor. Given his size and strength, scouts believe that Kath will develop more power if he continues to stay aggressive at the plate.
According to Perfect Game, Kath “has quick hands and generates bat speed, long and loose swing with a good lift out front for developing power, projects well as a hitter.”
His exit velocity has topped out at 93 mph and his max barrel speed reaches 75.1 mph, which places him in the 90th percentile or better for his class in each of those categories.
Kath has made some slight swing changes heading into this year. He shortened up his stance in the box, which has helped him tap into more power and improve his ability to make consistent, hard contact.
Defensively, Wes Kath was a shortstop at Desert Mountain High School, but he’s likely going to transition over to third base as a professional. Scouts believe he will be able to excel at the hot corner and shouldn’t have much trouble making the switch.
Kath’s infield velocity has topped out at 91 mph as a prep player, which is excellent and places him in the 95th percentile for his class. With an arm like that and less range than a typical shortstop, a move to third base makes a lot of sense.
After going the prep route in round one, the White Sox continued that trend with Kath in round two. So far, they’ve loaded up on left-handed hitting, left-side of the infield prep bats with a lot of offensive upside. This is another exciting addition to the farm system, as the White Sox look to add more youth into the mix.
For a team being at the bottom of the league in regards to pool amount this year, you have to be really happy with how they’ve utilized their resources up to this point. Not to mention, Wes Kath was someone who the organization was interested in at 22, and they were able to select him at 57.
Featured Photo Credit: YouTube/Still Image via Prospects Live
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