White Sox Deep Dive: Single-A Left Fielders

“Deep Dive” focuses on the depth of each position in the Chicago White Sox organization.

Welcome to another year of Deep Dive, where we analyze the past, present and future for each position in the White Sox organization. Each position is broken into five parts:

1. Depth in the rookie levels (Dominican through Arizona)
2. Depth in A-ball (Kannapolis and Winston-Salem)
3. Depth in the higher levels (Birmingham and Charlotte)
4. Under the Radar-type detail on a White Sox player
5. Free agent options

Left field is one of the weakest positions in the White Sox farm system, with only Blake Rutherford cracking the MLB Pipeline Top 30 list. Below are the organization’s left fielders who finished the season at either Low-A Kannapolis or High-A Winston Salem.

Ages below are as of April 1, 2022

---

Winston-Salem Dash

Travis Moniot
6´1´´
190 pounds
Age: 24
Bats/Throws: S/R
Other positions played: 1B, CF, RF, 2B, 3B
2020 SSS Top Prospect Ranking: 98

Moniot had a well-traveled, three-year college career after playing his high school ball in Indio, Calif. He scuffled as a freshman with the University of Oregon, as he slashed just .168/.286/.293 in 53 games. He then dominated with the Orange Coast JC squad by slashing .353/.524/.608 with seven homers in 45 games. Moniot then struggled with the University of Arizona as a junior in 2018 as he slashed just .160/.295/.240 with one homer in 22 games.

Despite his lack of success in Division I ball, the White Sox selected Moniot in the 17th round of that year’s MLB draft. Upon receiving his signing bonus, he slashed a respectable .289/.391/.412 for Great Falls with seven doubles, two triples, one homer, 14 RBIs, two stolen bases, 17 walks (12.6%) and 29 strikeouts (21.5%).

His 2019 full-season follow-up was a difficult one for Moniot, however. Combined with Kannapolis and Winston-Salem, he slashed just .172/.262/.207 in 19 games with two doubles, six RBIs, three stolen bases, seven walks (10.8%) and 24 strikeouts (36.9%). He was placed on the injured list on June 24 and never returned. Chasing that, 2020 was a lost season for him thanks to the pandemic shutdown.

The 2021 campaign was pretty much a repeat of 2019 for Moniot. In 61 games for the Dash spanning 208 at-bats, he slashed just .162/.295/.324 with seven doubles, seven homers, 23 RBIs, nine stolen bases, 30 walks (14.4%), 63 strikeouts (30.3%) and a 73 wRC+. Like in the 2019 season, Moniot missed significant time due to injuries. Despite his struggles offensively, he did possess a solid walk rate with the occasional steal.

If he can stay healthy, Moniot does have a role as an organizational player, and has played all defensive positions except the battery in his career. In fact, while many versatile players have difficulty fielding their arsenal of positions, Moniot actually fares quite well and only committed two errors all year.

Moniot is eligible for the Rule 5 draft, but of course will not be selected. He is valuable, however, to the White Sox organization due to his positional flexibility and will either begin 2022 with Winston-Salem or Birmingham.

---

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Chase Krogman
5´11´´
180 pounds
Age: 21
Bats/Throws: L/L
Other positions played: RF

Krogman, a native of the St. Louis area, played ball for Wentzville Liberty H.S. (Mo.). He certainly may have drawn the interest of area scouts, as he played for the Chi-Town Cream in 2019. According to Baseball Factory, “At the dish, he has a repeatable swing path and stays compact with the barrel. He sprays the ball to all fields and created fast bat speed with his smooth rhythm/timing.”

Krogman has a good arm, but because he doesn’t have blazing speed (he ran the 60-yard-dash in 7.02 per Perfect Game), he may be relegated to the corners. He has performed on the mound in front of scouts and posted an 83 mph fastball, along with a 72-74 mph curveball and changeup according to Prep Baseball Report.

However, it’s with the bat that Krogman’s future lies. When this Missouri State commit was selected in the 34th round by the White Sox in 2019, it wasn’t clear whether or not he’d sign. However, with a $190,000 signing bonus, the White Sox were able to reel him in.

Krogman struggled in what little playing time he had with the AZL Sox in 2019, with four singles, a walk, and six strikeouts in 21 official at-bats in a season that was limited in large part due to a hamstring injury. While he didn’t get into any official action in 2020, he did participate in last year’s CarShield Collegiate League; if that sounds familiar, he played on the same team as fellow Sox farmhand Jake Burger. Krogman also turned many a scout’s head during the Fall Instructs with his sweet lefty swing, power, and cannon of a throwing arm.

At the beginning of 2021, Krogman was ranked among the Top 30 White Sox prospects. However, due to his struggles at the dish, he dropped off the list much like a similarly-placed left fielder, Benyamín Bailey. In 77 games with the Cannon Ballers, Krogman slashed .200/.350/.348 with seven doubles, 10 homers, four stolen bases, 49 walks (15.8%) and 130 strikeouts (41.8%). It’s easy to get discouraged by the strikeouts, but it was encouraging to see him walk at such a high rate. Krogman’s ability to see so many pitches will only aid his recognition skills going forward. His swing does have an unusually high leg kick, and it remains to be seen if he needs to shorten it against pitchers with higher velocity. For an even deeper deep dive on Krogman, please see Dan Victor’s post published in February.

Despite his high strikeout total in 2021, Krogman did post a 100 wRC+, which wasn’t bad for his first full professional season against competition typically 1.2 years older. He’s likely to return to Kannapolis to begin the 2022 season, but should receive an early promotion to Winston-Salem provided he gets off to a strong start.

Below, you can see what he can do if he gets on his A-game: