It was a squeaker, but William Bergolla Jr. took an immediate lead and held Jaden Fauske off for the Round 5 win. Bergolla earned 21 of 77 votes (27%). Bergolla’s vote total was the same as Round 3 winner Billy Carlson, only with many more votes cast.
Bergolla, acquired from Philadelphia at the 2024 trade deadline for Tanner Banks, was our No. 15-voted prospect in last year’s Vote.
As you might have imagined in a shortstop-heavy system, we now have three shortstops among our first five picks:
Past No.
5s in the SSS Top Prospect Vote 2026 Sam Antonacci (41%) 2025 Colson Montgomery (29%) 2024 Nick Nastrini (27%) 2023 José Rodríguez (38%) 2022 Colson Montgomery (41%) 2021 Jared Kelley (47%) 2020 Dane Dunning (48%) 2019 Nick Madrigal (66%) 2018 Dylan Cease (70%)
Plum prep Kyle Casteel, a sweet-looking 11th-rounder in the 2026 draft, joins the ballot this round.
South Side Sox Top-Voted White Sox Prospects for 2027
- Caleb Bonemer — 71% (Cholowsky 25%, Fauske 3%, Prosek 2%, Bergolla Jr./Carlson/McDougal/Sandlin/Thome/Volchko 0%)
- Roch Cholowsky — 75% (Sandlin 8%, Bergolla Jr. 6%, Carlson 5%, McDougal 3%, Fauske/Mogollón 2%, Prosek/Thome/Volchko 0%)
- David Sandlin — 30% (Carlson 23%, Fauske 10%, Bergolla Jr./McDougal 9%, Prosek 8%, Lodise/Thome 4%, Mogollón 3%, Volchko 0%)
- Billy Carlson — 38% (Bergolla Jr. 27%, Fauske 13%, McDougal/Prosek 7%, Thome 4%, Lodise/Mogollón/Wolkow 2%, Volchko 0%)
- William Bergolla Jr. — 27% (Fauske 25%, McDougal 21%, Prosek/Thome 10%, Lodise 4%, Mogollón/Wolkow 1%, Volchko/Weingartner 0%)
Kyle Casteel
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 19
2026 high level Butler Area (H.S.)
Overall 2026 stats (H.S) 10-0 ▪️ 13 games ▪️ 65 ⅔ IP ▪️ 0.64 ERA ▪️ 103 K ▪️ 11 BB ▪️ 0.685 WHIP
Casteel is the sort of player you dream of getting to start off the $150,000 round of 10 picks: A player who the White Sox had been talking to regularly that, based on how the first round fell, now was draftable knowing the club could meet the prep’s demands. It’s undoubtable that Casteel is far better than the 315th pick (MLB had him ranked at No. 162 overall), and thus the White Sox pocketed a player who should have been selected in the fifth round. Casteel has power and control, and while the White Sox will bring him along with care, he has a rare profile in a pitching-starved White Sox system.
Jaden Fauske
Center Fielder
Age 20
2026 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 11
2026 high level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level -1.3 years
Overall 2026 stats 118 games ▪️ 4 HR ▪️ 48 RBI ▪️ .250/.388/.360 ▪️ 46-of-56 (82.1%) SB ▪️ 94 BB ▪️ 125 K ▪️ .948 FLD%▪️ 2.8 WAR
A year ago, we were not certain where Fauske would play, as a high school catcher announced at the draft as an outfielder-only. That proved to be the case in his first professional season, but what ho, Fauske saw more time in center than right field. And with quicks that saw Jaden snatch 46 bags in 118 games, the youngster might well stick in center.
Kyle Lodise
Shortstop
Age 22
2026 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 24
2026 high level Winston-Salem (High-A)
Age relative to high level 0.0 years
Overall 2026 stats 111 games ▪️ 20 HR ▪️ 77 RBI ▪️ .230/.380/.440 ▪️ 42-of-51 (82.4%) SB ▪️ 92 BB ▪️ 141 K ▪️ .957 FLD%▪️ 3.6 WAR
Lodise made a return visit to Winston-Salem in 2026, and his first full professional season went extremely well. With a low average and slug to burn, the shortstop fits right in with the org profile of swinging hard, damn the contact. Thankfully, Lodise is selective enough at the plate to produce astronomical OBPs. And his power bat is showing better than advertised at this point.
Tanner McDougal
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 23
2024 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 33
2025 SSS Prospect Poll ranking N/R
2026 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 6
2026 high level Chicago (MLB)
Age relative to high level -6.2 years
Overall 2026 stats (High-A/AAA/MLB) 2-3 ▪️ 27 games (7 starts, 3 finishes) ▪️ 50 IP ▪️ 4.86 ERA ▪️ 53 K ▪️ 34 BB ▪️ 1.480 WHIP ▪️0.2 WAR
The good news is that McDougal was enough of a core piece to be promoted to Chicago in the second half of 2026. The bad news … well, where to start. McDougal’s presumptive march to the South Side rotation was stopped dead early in the season, when he was sidelined for weeks with forearm tightness. While the injury was thankfully not severe enough to necessitate a second TJS, Tanner was a relief arm for the rest of the season and not a stable one at that. His brief cameo in Chicago saw him rack up one out along with three walks.
Javier Mogollón
Second Baseman
Age 21
2026 high level Winston-Salem (AA)
Age relative to high level -2.0 years
Overall 2026 stats (Low-A/High-A) 91 games ▪️ 14 HR ▪️ 57 RBI ▪️ .262/.368/.448 ▪️ 36-of-44 (81.8%) SB ▪️ 53 BB ▪️ 123 K ▪️ .965 FLD%▪️ 2.5 WAR
The diminutive (5´8´´, 160) infielder wowed in rookie ball and though his climb has slowed, Mogollón has steadily risen up our ranks, from No.62 in our 2024 Top 100 to the cusp of the Top 10 today. That said, he’s seen two straight seasons shortened by hamstring issues. At least in 2026, Mogollón was able to return before season’s end, providing a clutch bat coming that provided a .313/.389/.813 slash and eight RBIs en route to sweeping to a SALLY title.
Cole Prosek
Third Baseman
Age 19
2026 High Level Magnolia Heights (H.S.)
Overall 2026 stats (H.S) 41 games ▪️ 18 HR ▪️ 79 RBI ▪️ .545/.678/1.177 ▪️ 62 R ▪️ 7 SB ▪️ 31 BB ▪️ 12 K
Coming to Chicago as a second-rounder, Prosek seems more highly-regarded by evaluators than the guy picked ahead of him by the White Sox, low first round choice Landon Thome. That’s a curious thing, but Prosek dominated his prep competition even more thoroughly than Thome. Plus, while the White Sox regard Prosek as a second baseman, his prep time was spent significantly at the hot corner, and he has experience behind the plate as well.
Landon Thome
Shortstop
Age 19
2026 High Level Nazareth Academy (H.S.)
Overall 2026 stats (H.S) 7 HR ▪️ 29 RBI ▪️ .545 AVG ▪️ 49-of-50 (98.0%) SB
How crazy is it to have two high school teammates (Thome and Jaden Fauske) on our first ballot of the voting year … or any ballot, ever? The White Sox were so hot to dip back into Nazareth’s roster that they dealt promising 2023 first-rounder Jacob Gonzalez to Pittsburgh to acquire the draft pick to snag him; clearly the club was not confident Thome would drop into the second round. Unlike his father, Hall-of-Famer and White Sox adviser Jim, Landon is better regarded for his speed and defense than his ability to put the ball over the fence. Slugging will come in time for junior, however.
Joey Volchko
Right-handed starting pitcher
Age 21
2026 high level University of Georgia (NCAA)
Age relative to high level +0.1 years
Overall 2026 stats 11-2 ▪️ 18 starts ▪️ 1 CG ▪️ 95 1/3 IP ▪️ 3.68 ERA ▪️ 119 K ▪️ 46 BB ▪️ 1.343 WHIP ▪️ 2.1 WAR
This big-armed righty can touch 100 mph with his fastball, but wildness concerns might have precipitated Volchko’s drop to the White Sox in the third round in spite of MLB ranking him as a second round (68th-best) talent. He’s a big-game pitcher who dragged the Bulldogs to their first College World Series win in 18 years with a complete-game effort over the University of Texas. There’s a chance Volchko ends up as a high-leverage bullpen arm, but he will get every chance to stick as a starter.
Alex Weingartner
Right Fielder
Age 19
2026 high level St. Augustine College Prep (H.S.)
Overall 2026 stats 30 games ▪️ 7 HR ▪️ 36 RBI ▪️ .495 AVG ▪️ .817 SLG ▪️ 33 SB ▪️ 21 BB
Oddly enough, Weingartner may be a doppelganger for the player listed right below; both he and George Wolkow were prep plums selected lower than their skill and scout rankings indicated, and both players scored sweet bonuses from the White Sox to lure them from potential college commitments. Both have rocket arms (Weingartner, in fact, pitched for his St. Augustine Hermits in 2026) as well.
George Wolkow
Right Fielder
Age 21
2024 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 14
2025 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 13
2026 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 16
2026 high level Winston-Salem (High-A)
Age relative to high level -2.0 years
Overall 2026 stats 123 games ▪️ 22 HR ▪️ 100 RBI ▪️ .239/.317/.446 ▪️ 15-of-22 (68.2%) SB ▪️ 50 BB ▪️ 179 K ▪️ .971 FLD%▪️ 1.6 WAR
Wolkow sacrificed speed and what batting eye he had for power in 2026, and while that made for some impressive counting stats (22-100 plays on the back of any baseball card) the hole in his swing hasn’t been sewn. If the White Sox brass is having Wolkow bet on his best tool, power, at all others’ expense, he’s slipping into the Colson Category.
