White Sox well represented on Baseball America's midseason prospect ranking

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Baseball America released its midseason Top 100 prospect ranking Friday morning and the White Sox are well represented with five names on the list:

1. Yoan Moncada - 2B
20. Michael Kopech - RHP
45. Luis Robert - OF
59. Reynaldo Lopez - RHP
75. Lucas Giolito - RHP

BA originally forgot to include Robert on the list after the Cuban outfielder signed with the White Sox just this season. Robert, 19, has played 17 games in the Dominican Summer League, hitting .255 with a .479 on-base percentage and .872 OPS, walking 17 times against only 14 strikeouts and stealing eight bases with one home run.

All five players were not a part of the White Sox organization even a year ago as the top two (Moncada and Kopech) came over from the Boston Red Sox in the Chris Sale trade while Lopez and Giolito were a part of the Adam Eaton deal with the Washington Nationals.

This is quite a different list from BA's preseason rankings that had five Sox players on it:

2. Moncada
25. Giolito
31. Lopez
32. Kopech
56. Zack Collins - C

Moncada is now the top prospect with Andrew Benintendi graduating. Kopech has risen 12 spots, but Lopez and Giolito have seen preciptous dips in the rankings and Collins has fallen off completely.

Collins is hitting only .214 this season, but has drawn a ton of walks (.369 on-base percentage) and has 11 homers in 75 games with Advanced Class-A Winston-Salem. But he has also struck out 86 times after whiffing 46 times in 39 games last year.

Lopez, 23, is 6-5 with a 4.03 ERA and 1.32 WHIP with Triple-A Charlotte, striking out 85 batters in 87 innings. He made 11 appearances in the big leagues with the Nationals last year, posting a 4.91 ERA in six starts and five relief appearances.

Giolito, 22, was formerly the top pitching prospect int he game prior to the 2016 season, but he has an ugly 2-8 record to go with a 5.40 ERA and 1.48 WHIP with Charlotte. He has struck out 87 batters in 83.1 innings, but has allowed 85 hits and 15 homers in that same span.

Moncada, meanwhile, is off to a good start in Triple-A, hitting .278 with a .378 on-base percentage and .448 slugging (.826 OPS). The 22-year-old infielder has 11 homers and 16 stolen bases plus 53 runs scored in 72 games.

In Double-A, the 21-year-old Kopech is 4-6 with a 4.02 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 78.1 innings.

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