This one took awhile, close all the way until sputtering to a finish with a 13-11 win and no votes added in recent days. The winner was yet another southpaw starter, and one who’s yet to pitch a professional inning to boot: Blake Larson, earning 13 of 61 (21%) votes:
The win came on Larson’s sixth ballot. Larson, a 2024 draft choice sidelined with TJS, was our No. 30-voted prospect one season ago.
The win makes for 10 of 18 pitching prospects advancing to date. And somewhat astoundingly even in the
White Sox system, SIX of the first 18 prospects to advance in our Vote has been southpaw starters:
Past No. 18s in the SSS Top Prospect Vote
2025 Wilfred Veras (17%)
2024 Peyton Pallette (22%)
2023 Tyler Schweitzer (13%)
2022 Voting lasted through only 17 rounds
2021 Jimmy Lambert (32%)
2020 Jimmy Lambert (24%)
2019 Gavin Sheets (39%)
2018 Jordan Stephens (28%)
Christian Gonzalez made an impressive ballot debut, finishing just six votes off the pace and in fifth place overall. This round sees Ky Bush join the ballot, like Larson a lefthander sidelined by TJS in 2025.
South Side Sox Top-Voted White Sox Prospects for 2026
- Braden Mongomery — 59% (Smith 17%, Bonemer 9%, Schultz 7%, Antonacci 3%, Adams/Carlson/McDougal 2%, Fauske/Oppor 0%)
- Hagen Smith — 40% (Bonemer 28%, Schultz 18%, McDougal 5%, Antonacci 4%, Carlson 3%, Bergolla/Oppor 1%, Adams/Fauske 0%)
- Caleb Bonemer — 47% (Schultz 34%, Antonacci 10%, Carlson/McDougal 4%, Bergolla 2%, Adams/Fauske/Oppor/Perez 0%)
- Noah Schultz — 49% (Antonacci 25%, Carlson 11%, McDougal 7%, Adams/Bergolla/Oppor 2%, Perez 1%, Fauske/Lodise 0%)
- Sam Antonacci — 41% (Carlson 25%, McDougal 20%, Bergolla/Perez 4%, Oppor 3%, Adams 2%, Fauske 1%, Diaz/Lodise 0%)
- Tanner McDougal — 39% (Carlson 36%, Bergolla 7%, Adams 6%, Pallette 5%, Fauske 3%, Oppor 2%, Lodise 1%, Diaz/Perez 0%)
- Billy Carlson — 52% (Adams 18%, Oppor 12%, Bergolla 9%, Fauske 5%, Lodise/Pallette/Wolkow 2%, Diaz/Perez 0%)
- Christian Oppor — 24% (Murphy 20%, Adams/Fauske 16%, Wolkow 10%, Bergolla 9%, Lodise/Pallette/Perez 1%, Diaz 0%)
- Shane Murphy — 34% (Adams 20%, Wolkow 13%, Fauske 16%, Bergolla 9%, Palisch 4%, Lodise/Pallette/Perez 1%, Diaz 0%)
- Mason Adams — 43% (Wolkow 22%, Bergolla 11%, Fauske/Pallette 10%, Lodise/Palisch/Perez 2%, Diaz/Hodge 0%)
- Jaden Fauske — 24.0% (Perez 23.5%, Hodge 13.4%, Bergolla 12.9%, Wolkow 8%, Pallette 5%, Diaz/Gonzalez/Lodise/Palisch 3%)
- Jeral Perez — 20% (Umberger 15%, Wolkow 13%, Hodge 12.3%, Palisch 11.9%, Bergolla 11.4%, Lodise 7.3%, Pallette 6.9%, Diaz 2%, Gonzalez 1%)
- Grant Umberger — 28% (Palisch 19%, Wolkow 13%, Bergolla 12%, Hodge 11%, Lodise 10%, Pallette 4%, Diaz 3%, Gonzalez/Larson 1%)
- Mathias LaCombe — 41% (Bergolla 19%, Wolkow 17%, Pallette 7%, Palisch 6%, Gonzalez 4%, Hodge/Lodise 2%, Diaz/Larson 1%)
- William Bergolla — 35% (Wolkow 20%, Pallette/Palisch 13%, Larson 6%, Diaz/Gordon/Lodise 4%, Hodge 2%, Gonzalez 0%)
- George Wolkow — 38% (Pallette 22%, Palisch 12%, Gordon 8%, Lodise 6%, Gonzalez 5%, Batista/Diaz/Larson 3%, Hodge 0%)
- Peyton Pallette — 38% (Palisch 13%, Lodise 11%, Gordon/Larson 10%, Gonzalez 8%, Batista 5%, Diaz 3%, Hodge/Mogollón 2%)
- Blake Larson — 21% (Lodise 18%, J. Gonzalez/Palisch 15%, C. Gonzalez 11%, Gordon 10%, Batista 5%, Mogollón 3%, Hodge 2%, Diaz 0%)
Aldrin Batista
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 22
2025 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 6
2025 high level Winston-Salem (High-A)
Age relative to high level -1.2 years
Overall 2025 stats 2-0 ▪️ 7 games (2 starts) ▪️ 14 IP ▪️ 5.79 ERA ▪️ 17 K ▪️ 7 BB ▪️ 1.429 WHIP ▪️-1.2 WAR
Batista was our No. 6-voted player in last year’s poll and top righthander — and then disaster struck, as he started the third Dash game of the season on April 6 and then was out more than four months with a stress fracture in his right (pitching) elbow. His return in late August was iffy, with three poor relief appearances of five. But he ended the season with a scoreless (two-inning) “opener” start, which hopefully reverses the curse for 2026.
Ky Bush
Left-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 26
2024 SSS Prospect Vote ranking 19
2025 SSS Prospect Vote ranking 20
2024 High Level Chicago (MLB)
Age relative to high level -5.0 years
Overall 2024 MiLB stats (AA/AAA) 7-4▪️ 20 games (18 starts, 1 finish) ▪️ 71 2⁄3 IP ▪️ 3.30 ERA ▪️ 100 K▪️ 49 BB ▪️ 1.166 WHIP ▪️ 2.3 WAR
Bush made big and unexpected strides in 2024, improving greatly on a career that to date had been more promise, less delivery. He was a stalwart in the crushing Birmingham Barons rotation for most of the summer, then made his MLB debut in August, after spending a short stopover in Triple-A. Unfortunately, Bush ended 2024 with a triceps injury, and when it did not heal in the offseason the southpaw underwent TJS in February 2025.
Reudis Diaz
Right-handed relief pitcher
Age 20
2025 high level ACL (Rookie)
Age relative to high level -2.1 years
Overall 2025 stats 1-1 ▪️ 1 SV▪️ 21 games (4 finishes) ▪️ 27 2/3 IP ▪️ 2.28.ERA ▪️ 18 K ▪️ 8 BB ▪️ 1.084 WHIP ▪️1.2 WAR
Who? You’re forgiven for being unfamiliar with an extremely young arm who hasn’t yet gotten out of rookie ball, but our No. 77 prospect a year ago (then a starter, repeating the DSL and killing it) made a successful adjustment Stateside. He’ll return to starting in 2026, likely getting his feet wet in Arizona and getting a promotion to Low-A in the second half of the season.
Christian Gonzalez
Right Fielder
Age 19
2025 high level ACL (Rookie)
Age relative to high level -1.6 years
Overall 2025 stats (DSL/ACL) 34 games ▪️ 1 HR ▪️ 14 RBI ▪️ .407/.511/.565 ▪️ 4-of-12 (33.3%) SB ▪️ 19 BB ▪️ 19 K ▪️ .950 FLD%▪️ 1.4 WAR
You cannot better epitomize and exciting — but unpolished — prospect than to stumble across one who hit better than .400, even in a month’s worth of games. But in the process Gonzalez achieved what is thought to be an unprecedented in-season promotion in the White Sox system, from the DSL to ACL. That says a heckuva lot about what the White Sox think of his talent. The hit tool sure seems there, but a player having the speed to play all three outfield spots but succeeding on a comically-bad 33% of steal attempts is going to benefit a ton from Fall Instructional play and 2026 Spring Training work.
Jacob Gonzalez
Second Baseman
Age 23
2024 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 9
2025 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 24
2025 high level Charlotte (AAA)
Age relative to high level -3.3 years
Overall 2025 stats (AA/AAA) 134 games ▪️ 8 HR ▪️ 61 RBI ▪️ .232/.307/.345 ▪️ 17-of-20 (85.0%) SB ▪️ 48 BB ▪️ 86 K ▪️ .990 FLD%▪️ 3.1 WAR
After the incredible first half/awful second of 2024, Gonzalez rebounded for a solid campaign, the final third of which came in Charlotte. However, his time in Charlotte, a hitter’s playground, was a significant step back on offense. He’s on the cusp of the bigs but has created questions whether he’ll produce at all with the stick on the South Side.
Lucas Gordon
Left-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 24
2025 high level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -1.7 years
Overall 2025 stats (High-A/AA) 3-11▪️ 24 starts ▪️ 107 2/3 IP ▪️ 3.59 ERA ▪️ 116 K ▪️ 42 BB ▪️ 1.161 WHIP ▪️ 1.5 WAR
Somehow still, in completing his third season as a pro, Gordon is still vastly underrated. All he has done is put up a career 2.80 ERA while taking on a significant workload each season. Sure, there’s no overpowering fastball there, but Gordon’s cup of coffee at Double-A (where he vastly improved his ERA, 2.11 over four starts) indicates that he may evade the wall that softer tossers hit once they are in the upper minors.
Landon Hodge
Catcher
Age 19
2025 high level Crespi Carmelite H.S. (Encino, Calif.)
Scouting grades (40-80 scale) Hit 45 ▪️ Power 40 ▪️ Run 50 ▪️ Arm 55 ▪️ Field 50 ▪️ Overall 40
This teammate of White Sox first-rounder (and SSS Top Prospect Vote No. 7 player) Billy Carlson made history simply by being drafted (fourth round, No. 107 overall). The very first pick of Day 2 of the draft was a somewhat curious one, given MLB’s ranking as the 164th-best talent available in the draft and the presence of much more enticing talents (as high as MLB’s No. 35 prospect) passed over on Day 1. Hodge has a killer arm (another characteristic he shares with Carlson) and has a solid hit tool that’s more average than power.
Kyle Lodise
Shortstop
Age 22
2025 high level Winston-Salem (High-A)
Age relative to high level -1.0 years
Overall 2025 stats 28 games ▪️ 4 HR ▪️ 10 RBI ▪️ .185/.319/.370 ▪️ 7-of-8 (87.5%) SB ▪️ 15 BB ▪️ 21 K ▪️ .954 FLD%▪️ 0.4 WAR
Last summer’s third-rounder got right to work after the draft, reporting to High-A and adding another third to what was already the longest (55 games) season of his career. While that slash is rough, at least nearly a fourth (four of 17) of the shortstop’s hits left the yard. Perhaps against easier competition (or, maybe not), Lodise ran out a .329/.429/.667 slash in his last college season for Georgia Tech, with similar power, baserunning and bat discipline numbers.
Javier Mogollón
Shortstop
Age 20
2025 high level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level -1.4 years
Overall 2025 stats 51 games ▪️ 5 HR ▪️ 19 RBI ▪️ .220/.347/.387 ▪️ 15-of-21 (71.4%) SB ▪️ 30 BB ▪️ 56 K ▪️ .971 FLD%▪️ 1.0 WAR
An ascending star just one year ago, we have to tap the breaks a bit on Mogollón after a lackluster first full season of minors ball. While still young for his level and managing to keep his head above water in a new league every season of his career, Mogollón’s undeniable hitting in Rookie ball fell off significantly with the Cannon Ballers. However, how much of that was due to battling injury is undetermined, as Mogollón was shelved for what turned out to be the season on July 2.
Jake Palsich
Left-Handed Relief Pitcher
Age 27
2025 high level Chicago (MLB)
Age relative to high level -3.2 years
Overall 2025 stats (AA only) 8-3 ▪️ 11 SV ▪️ 29 games (13 starts, 1 finish) ▪️ 105 IP ▪️ 2.14.ERA ▪️ 67 K ▪️ 26 BB ▪️ 1.067 WHIP ▪️ 3.0 WAR
Palisch was a fluke call-up during Adrian Houser’s paternity leave last summer, but his stellar Double-A season certainly merited consideration. While a pretty old player for his level and a guy bringing pedestrian peripherals, the bottom line is that an arm able to start or relieve and generate outs without overpowering stuff has a place in the White Sox system — and perhaps with the White Sox themselves.
Past South Side Sox Prospect votes
- Here is how 2018 wrangled out — all 42 picks. Also, here is an archive of every article in the 2018 series.
- Here is how 2019 came together, all 50 picks, and the archive as well.
- Now 2020, with the archive.
- Here is the 2021 wrap-up of just 35 picks due to flagging participation, along with the full archive.
- Here is the 2022 link to the 27-pick wrap, along with the full archive.
- Round 24 of voting was the last of 2023 (we did not do an actual wrap for the voting, but Jordan Sprinkle ended up being our final pick), and the full archive.
- In 2024 Abraham Núñez was our 34th pick to end the series, and here is the wrap-up post and full archive of each profile.
- And last year, we did 31 picks, ending with Eric Adler. Here is the wrap and full stream, of every article.
