The swift CF needs to rediscover the gaps, as his power as a pro has been sapped
Eddie Park
Center Fielder
6´1´´
192 pounds
Age: 23
2024 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking 48
2024 High Level Winston-Salem (High-A)
Age relative to high level -0.1 years
SSS rank among all center fielders in the system 6
Overall 2024 stats 89 games ⚾️ 1 HR ⚾️ 30 RBI ⚾️ .249/.249/.285 ⚾️ 50 BB ⚾️ 54 K ⚾️ 14-of-18 (77.8%) SB ⚾️ .990 FLD%
With the 239th overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft the White Sox selected CF Eddie Park out of Stanford University.
Park seemed destined to be the top grinder of the 2023 White Sox draft class, with top marks on defense, speed, and contact. The trend of his class, even more evident than usual, was player “makeup,” choosing a plurality of leaders and “play the right way” guys.
Park’s selection in 2023 was Chicago’s fourth bat, and fourth left-handed bat. The White Sox also stuck with their theme of recent College World Series participants, with Park playing in Omaha in both 2022 and 2023.
The 2023 season was Park’s first collegiate one cracking 100 wRC+, finishing at 117. He did so by hitting 10 more doubles and six more homers than he did in 2022, while also cutting his strikeout rate by 5%. Park actually chased pitches at a higher clip in 2023, but that coincided with a zone contact (and quality of contact) improvement. He also cut his ground ball rate by more than 8%.
Park really struggled against breaking balls in 2023. It’s not a swing-and-miss issue, it’s quality of contact, which is the overall question mark with Park. His Barrel rate was only in the 20th percentile in D1 Baseball in 2023. A somewhat redeeming factor, and one that Park will have to continue to optimize, is his SweetSpot% (how often his batted balls are at optimal launch angles), which sat in the 59th percentile.
In spite of above-average speed, Park also struggled with efficient base-stealing, converting on just 15-of-22 in his NCAA career.
Recent trends reversed in a monthlong taste of the pros, as Park put zero balls over the fence at Arizona and Kannapolis, but was an ace on the base paths: eight steals without a snag.
In 2024, about all Park continued to do well in the pros was steal bases, keeping his efficiency high with swipes in 14 of 18 attempts. However, his power took a big step back, with a .285 slugging percentage that seems at first glance a misprint. While managing to mitigate a low batting average with a batting eye that got him on base close to 35% of the time, Park will need to flash some thump to move up — or even remain in — the White Sox system.
Park’s Baseball Cube player ratings
Contact 90 (-1 from his college season)
Hitting 82 (+11)
Runs 72 (+12)
Durability 69 (-9)
Speed 52 (+13)
RBIs 21 (+11)
Power 15 (+8)
XBH 13 (+8)
[Due to a Baseball Cube site issue, Park’s updated ratings were not available as we published, but will be inserted ASAP.]
While he’s had just one full pro season under his belt, as an eighth-rounder nothing in promised to Park. That goes double if he can’t have more balls drop in for hits and can’t put anything in the gaps/over the fence.
Park had a cup of coffee in Kanny in 2024 before playing most of the season in Winston-Salem. Logic would dictate he start again with the Dash in 2025, with a strong April pushing him to Birmingham. If Park can’t barrel up better next summer, he may never break the ceiling into Double-A.
100. Cole McConnell, CF
99. Drake Logan, LF
98. Marcelo Alcala, RF
97. Lyle Miller-Green, 1B
96. Jared Kelley, RHRP
95. Adrian Gil, 1B
94. Adam Hackenberg, C
93. Loidel Chapelli, 2B
92. Eddie Park, CF
