South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 53: Tristan Stivors

Is there better pure-closer stuff in the system? Nope

Tristan Stivors

Right-Handed Relief Pitcher
6´4´´
220 pounds
Age: 25
2023 SSS Top Prospect Rank 35
2023 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -0.3 years
SSS rank among all right-handed relief pitchers in the system 5
Overall 2023 stats 7-1 ⚾️ 7 SV ⚾️ 34 games (26 finishes) ⚾️ 38 1⁄3 IP ⚾️ 3.52 ERA ⚾️ 1.409 WHIP ⚾️ 56 K ⚾️ 22 BB

With pick No. 491 in the 2022 MLB draft, the White Sox added right-handed closer Tristan Stivors from Texas State University. Stivors crushed the Sun Belt Conference competition with 18 saves in 32 games and a 2.21 ERA/1.082 WHIP, with 86 Ks in 61 innings. Those 18 saves led the nation in 2022. He features a classic closer mix of big heat and killer breaking ball.

Oh, and a closer, who led the nation in saves, starting a game this season? That stands out. Here are some details:

Stivors had a heavy workload with Texas State in 2022 and thus saw little time after signing his $75,000 bonus, facing just 18 batters in the ACL and at Kannapolis.

True as advertised, given age and experience, Stivors jumped another two levels, up to Double-A Birmingham, in 2023. His results were a bit more mixed, however. While the ERA remained on the sunny side of 4.00, Stivors’ ability to simply show up on the mound and scare the sanitary socks off of batters has waned. Walks have bloomed, and what was a WHIP barely scraping past 1.000 in college has swelled to the 1.4 level in the pros — in 2023’s case, both at High-A and Double-A.

Stivors’ Baseball Cube player ratings
Strikeouts 94 (same as last season)
K/BB 79 (-6)
Hittable 66 (+2)
vs. Power 66 (+2)
Walks 56 (-9)
Durability 56 (+2)

Last season ending up a Baron put Stivors right at age-appropriate. He’ll get his start back in Birmingham to begin 2024, with the expectation of Charlotte sooner than later. In terms of pure closer mettle, there is no more suited candidate for the South Side in the White Sox system.

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[Note: The makeup of the White Sox minors changes over the long course of this project, shifting ratings. The February 3 trades with Seattle and Arizona have added three highly-rated prospects to our list, sliding players ranked No. 57-100 down a couple of spots. The list below represents our updated rankings, although the stories they link to will retain original rankings (example, No. 57 Troy Claunch originally was our No. 55 prospect).]

2024 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox Prospects

53. Tristan Stivors, RHRP
54. Caleb Freeman, RHRP
55. Jake Peppers, RHSP
56. Shane Murphy, LHRP
57. Troy Claunch, C
58. Edrick Felix, 2B
59. Gabriel Rodríguez, RHSP
60. Edgar Navarro, RHRP
61. Lucas Gordon, LHSP
62. Andrew Pérez, LHRP
63. Javier Mogollon, 2B
64. Aldrin Batista, RHSP
65. Ryan Castillo, 1B
66. Bryce Willits, 3B
67. Colby Smelley, C
68. Wes Kath, 3B
69. Alsander Womack, 2B
70. Jordan Sprinkle, SS
71. Connor McCullough, RHSP
72. Luis Rodriguez, RHRP
73. Jonah Scolaro, LHRP
74. Ben Beutel, LHRP
75. Stiven Flores, C
76. Adrian Gil, 1B
77. Yohemy Nolasco, RHRP
78. Ben Norman, LF
79. Josimar Cousín, RHSP
80. Juan Gonzalez, C
81. Chris Lanzilli, LF
82. Alex Speas, RHRP
83. Fraser Ellard, LHRP
84. Garrett Wright, RHRP
85. Duke Ellis, CF
86. Mathias LaCombe, RHRP
87. Godwin Bennett, RF
88. Rikuu Nishida, LF
89. Caden Connor, LF
90. Zach Franklin, RHRP
91. Jeremy González, LHSP
92. Jerry Burke, RHRP
93. Frankeli Arias, LHSP
94. Mikey Kane, 3B
95. Carlton Perkins, RHSP
96. Tyler Neslony, LF
97. Drew Dalquist, RHSP
98. Jason Matthews, SS
99. Jonathan Stiever, RHSP
100. Tommy Sommer, LHSP
101. Daniel González, LHRP

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