Tyler Kolek going third overall to the Chicago White Sox seems to be the most sure thing in the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft. He can throw 100 m.p.h. plus and has all the potential in the world. However, his control isn’t there, and he won’t be big league ready for awhile.
Matt Cassidy of Future Sox, a Chicago Now site that focuses on White Sox prospects, made the Sox pick in this group Mock Draft. It’s posted on another Chicago Now site, and friend of The Sports Bank program, Cubs Den. It’s a must read site.
3. White Sox (Matt Cassidy): Tyler Kolek, RHP, HS (T). John: The latest buzz says the Sox have focused on Kolek and that he is their guy. Keith Law has called it the biggest lock in the draft.
Well, if anyone would know it’s Keith Law, so I would expect you’ll indeed hear the name Tyler Kolek called at the #3 slot. However, I wouldn’t expect him to be fast-tracked to the majors like Chris Sale was. Sale had a very rapid rise. And as you’ve seen, he lived up to the billing and then some. He was a brilliant 1st round pick…some of the other White Sox picks lately….not so much.
Then again, not all draft picks are like that AMAZING run of fortune the Sox had 1987-1990: Here are their first round picks in successive years: Jack McDowell, Robin Ventura, Frank Thomas and Alex Fernandez. Then Scott Ruffcorn had to come along, be a total bust and ruin it. And then later you had the disasters that were Joe Borchard and Brian Anderson, and…never mind, I’ll show myself out.
We’ll see which category Tyler Kolek fits into.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on national talk radio. Banks, a former contributor to NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, has been featured in numerous outlets including NFL.com, Forbes and the History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)
