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WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF SEPTEMBER 19, 2017 “Prospect Hansen eyeing bigs after strong '17” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Top 10 storylines from the White Sox minor league season” … Dan Santaromita, CSN Chicago “White Sox Q&A: Offseason goals, Matt Davidson and when team might return to postseason” … Chris Kuc, Chicago Tribune “Alec Hansen, who led all minor-leaguers with 191 strikeouts, among White Sox success stories” … Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune “Giolito, Lopez seeing why more was better in minor leagues” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “Hansen looks to join Chicago White Sox in 2018” … Scott Gregor, Daily Herald “White Sox rookie lefties working through major league trials side by side” … James Fegan, The Athletic Prospect Hansen eyeing bigs after strong '17 By Scott Merkin / MLB.com | @scottmerkin | September 18th, 2017 CHICAGO -- There was a time during the 2015 season when Alec Hansen was considered a potential top pick overall in the '16 Draft. After a rough junior season at Oklahoma in 2016, with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP in 51 2/3 innings, the right-hander "slipped" to the White Sox in the second round of the 2016 Draft. But it didn't take long for Hansen to not only put up dominant numbers at the Minor League levels, but also to start thinking about big league possibilities. "I definitely feel like I'll be able to start consistently in the Major Leagues toward the end of next year," Hansen said during a conference call. "This first full year, it was great that it taught me about my arm and how my arm is going to feel in between every start and how my body is going to feel throughout the season. I can go into this offseason and work out and get my body the way I want it to going into Spring Training, and be able to maintain that throughout the season next year. "I'll have a lot more confidence and experience that's going to help me. By the end of next year, that experience and confidence in my body will be where it needs to be to be in the Major Leagues for good." Hansen's 2017 body of work certainly gives him reason for that big league optimism, building off of a strong debut in '16. The 6-foot-7 22-year-old moved from the AZL White Sox to Rookie-level Great Falls to Class A Kannapolis in '16. He then jumped from Kannapolis to Class A Advanced Winston-Salem to Double-A Birmingham this season. Over two starts for the Barons, Hansen pitched 10 1/3 innings while striking out 17, walking three and allowing five earned runs. Those 17 K's gave him 191 for the season, tops among Minor League hurlers. "That's something I'll remember for the rest of my life -- that I led the Minor Leagues in strikeouts this year, which is pretty cool," said Hansen, who has a 2.39 ERA over 38 career starts. "It was in A-ball where guys swing a lot and are pretty aggressive at the plate. "But it was nice to see I went up to Double-A and still had quite a few strikeouts. That was kind of reassuring that it wasn't just a thing because I was in the lower levels." Hansen's confidence and pitching knowledge clearly have grown as part of the White Sox, whose confidence in taking a chance on him has been rewarded with an apparent front-line starter as the team's No. 6 prospect per MLBPipeline.com. "It's all been a lot of fun and that's been what allowed me to succeed," Hansen said. "As far as pitching-wise, my fastball command has been pretty good, but that could get a little bit better. "Besides that, the biggest thing is being able to command my breaking balls -- my slider, my curveball -- for a strike better. Then refining my changeup a little bit, getting it to slow down a little bit. It's probably like six mph difference from my fastball. If I could get it to eight, that'd be really good. But other than the breaking ball and the changeup, that's really it.” Top 10 storylines from the White Sox minor league season By Dan Santaromita / CSN Chicago | September 18, 2017 White Sox prospects received more attention from fans and media this year and on Sunday the White Sox minor league season concluded with rookie level Great Falls dropping the decisive game in the Pioneer League Championship. Here's a look at some of the standout players, storylines and moments from the season that was, from Yoan to Eloy to Robert. 1. Yoan Moncada gets called up to make his White Sox debut after seven-player trade with Yankees Yoan Moncada wasn't only the top White Sox prospect but the top prospect in baseball according to some, so when he was the first big prospect in the club's rebuild to get called up, it was a significant moment. Moncada mania began with a standing ovation from the home fans in his debut. He drew a walk in his first plate appearance and later said his White Sox debut had a similar feeling to his major league debut with the Red Sox. 2. Eloy Jimenez’s arrival and immediate hot streak Trading Jose Quintana to the Cubs wasn't an easy pill for White Sox fans to swallow. With that in mind, it's a good thing that Eloy Jimenez quickly turned public perception of the trade in the White Sox favor. Jimenez had good, but not great numbers with the Cubs' Carolina League affiliate Myrtle Beach (.271/.351/.490) when he was traded. Jimenez had missed some time due to injury, but staying in the same league, he erupted with the Winston-Salem Dash. In 29 games with the Dash, Jimenez hit .345/.410/.682 and blasted eight home runs. One of the highlights was when Jimenez told teammate Ian Clarkin, who arrived from the Yankees just days after the Quintana-Jimenez trade, that he was going to hit a home run. After Jimenez did in fact go yard that game, Clarkin shared Jimenez's prescient call on Twitter. Jimenez provided more magic by blasting a home run in his first at-bat for Double-A Birmingham. In 18 games with the Barons, Jimenez hit .353/.397/.559 and solidified his spot as one of the best hitting prospects in the game. He has impressed the White Sox and Jimenez thinks he is ready to play in the majors. 3. The Luis Robert saga With the major league team struggling on the field, the off the field moves attracted most of the attention. The chase for Cuban free agent Luis Robert riled up Sox fans, who were eating up the latest news and rumors about the then-teenage prospect. When the Sox landed Robert, it was another big move for a quickly improving farm system. The outfielder has received high praise from around baseball. After signing Robert played in the Dominican Summer League. He missed some time with minor injuries, but finished hitting .310/.491/.536. 4. Michael Kopech dominates in Double-A Along with Moncada, Kopech was a big part of the Chris Sale trade. When the White Sox got him he was a hard-throwing 20-year-old who had plenty of strikeouts, but also plenty of walks. After continuing that trend for the first three months of this season, something appeared to click for Kopech. The former first-round pick walked 11 batters in 44 1/3 innings in his final eights starts with Birmingham. He struck out a whopping 58 during that stretch and earned a late-season promotion to Triple-A Charlotte. When he was in Birmingham, Kopech created buzz the Barons hadn't seen since Michael Jordan. He finished tied for fifth in the minors with 172 strikeouts on the season, which impressed the White Sox front office and earned him Southern League Most Outstanding Pitcher. 5. Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez make White Sox debuts Moncada was the first major prospect to get promoted in the White Sox rebuild, but Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito represented the first pitching prospects to join the big league club. Both joined the White Sox in the Adam Eaton trade in the offseason, had major league experience and began the year in Triple-A. Lopez's debut came first. After rolling off a hot July in which he posted a 2.10 ERA, Lopez pitched a quality start on Aug. 11 in his White Sox debut. Meanwhile, Giolito waited a little bit longer after struggling for much of the year in Charlotte. He had a 5.40 ERA in his first 16 starts for the Knights, but found some consistency later in the year and drew rave reviews when he made his Sox debut on Aug. 22. 6. Breakout years for Alec Hansen and Dane Dunning Lopez and Giolito received most of the attention in the Eaton trade, but in the early part of the season it was Dunning who was making the most noise in the minor leagues. The 2016 first-round pick utterly dominated the opposition in Single-A Kannapolis with a 0.35 ERA and 33 strikeouts against just two walks in 26 innings. Dunning got promoted to Winston- Salem and finished tied for 11th in all of the minors with 168 strikeouts, capping off a stellar first full season in pro ball. Amazingly, Dunning may have been outshined by his own teammate.

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