Courtney

Hawkins

Hawkins, who was selected 13th overall by the White Sox in the 2012 MLB Draft, never wound up making it to the majors. The 29-year-old outfielder has spent the last few seasons obliterating baseballs for the Lexington Legends of the independent Atlantic League, clobbering an absurd 80 home runs in 218 contests over the last two years. He’s a fascinating story and has a chance to do some serious damage overseas this season in Japan.

Hawkins was one of the White Sox’ top prospects a few years ago, but he’s spent time in independent ball the last couple years and was hitting just .175/.200/.333 between Double- and Triple-A when the Reds released him. He’s still just 25 but obviously is a long shot to make a big league impact at this point.

The 25-year-old former top prospect served as the Reds’ designated hitter in this one. He tagged David McKay for the two-run blast in the fifth inning, pulling the Reds even at 3-3. For the spring, he’s hitting .571 (4-for-7) with three homers and five RBI in an extremely limited sample size.

Hawkins, who was selected 13th overall in last week’s MLB Amateur Draft, got a signing bonus of $2.475 million. The 18-year-old outfielder is likely to begin his professional career in a short-season rookie league.

Raw in the “art” of hitting, Hawkins nevertheless possesses explosive bat speed and power to spare. Hawkins’ speed is only average, but he profiles as an asset on defense. Still only 18, however, Hawkins will likely spend many years on the farm before arriving in “The Show.”

The White Sox are worried that the injury might be serious and will send the 19-year-old outfielder for an MRI on Friday. Hawkins has seven home runs and 17 RBI in 23 games this season for Winston-Salem but that power production has come alongside a .177 batting average and .247 on-base percentage. He is still very raw.

White Sox assistant general manager Buddy Bell on Sunday said Hawkins has 40 homer, 130 RBI upside. To come anywhere close to reaching it, Hawkins needs to improve his grasp of the strike zone and eliminate holes in his elongated swing. The 13th overall pick in 2012’s draft struggled through a horrific 2013 season as a 19-year-old, slashing .178/.249/.384 at High-A Winston-Salem. Hawkins could end up being a poor man’s Nelson Cruz.

He drove in four of the Barons’ five runs while extending his hitting streak to seven games. Hawkins has hit .483 over that span while increasing his season average from .197 to .248. 18 of his 28 RBI this season have come in the month of June. The 2012 first-round pick has only homered 13 times since the start of 2015. That’s a mild disappointment after drilling 38 long balls over his previous two seasons.

This unique feat was accomplished in a 10-4 win over Montgomery. The 21-year-old is striking out at a tremendous clip (38 Ks in 106 at-bats) but he’s also been among the most powerful hitters in Double-A. He ranks second in the league with 21 RBI and is ninth in slugging (.491). A 7-for-16 stretch has raised Hawkins’ average from .222 to .255.

Both of Hawkins’ homers were two-run shots. The outfielder now has four homers and nine RBI in 31 at-bats this spring. He’s hitting .419 in his bid to force his way into a crowded White Sox outfield picture.