2025 South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 79: Drew McDaniel

A killer run through Kanny leaves fans with something to dream on for 2025

Drew McDaniel

Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
6´2´´
185 pounds
Age: 24
First Appearance in the South Side Sox Top 100 Prospects
2024 High Level Winston-Salem (High-A)
Age relative to high level +0.0 years
SSS rank among all right-handed starters in the system 16
Overall 2024 stats 6-4 ⚾️ 12 starts ⚾️ 61 IP ⚾️ 4.13 ERA ⚾️ 65 K ⚾️ 18 BB ⚾️ 1.197 WHIP

Drew McDaniel signed with the White Sox in 2022 after going undrafted. He pitched three seasons at Ole Miss and got hit pretty hard, yet he displayed some big strikeout numbers. He K’d just short of 25% of the hitters he faced in college. He featured a low-90s heater with good ride from a low release height. He paired this with two distinct breaking balls, including a curveball with lots of spin and big depth. Despite some struggles, the strikeouts in America’s best collegiate conference combined with some intriguing pitch metrics is what caught the eye of the Sox.

After signing, McDaniel threw 5 1⁄3 innings in 2022, and then followed that with 78 1⁄3 innings at Kannapolis in 2023 where he posted a 4.60 ERA (4.30 FIP) with just an 11.4 K-BB%.

Back in Kanny to start 2024, McDaniel made seven starts and pitched to a 1.82 ERA (3.32 FIP) and his K-BB% shot up to 24.3%. On May 14, he had one of the best starts in the White Sox system in 2024, with seven shutout innings, striking out nine and walking none. Six days later, McDaniel added another gem to his ledger, with seven more scoreless frames – this time striking out 11 and again walking none.

This earned McDaniel a promotion to High-A Winston-Salem, where his numbers faded back to roughly where they were in 2023. He finished the season with an 8.44 ERA (inflated by a .384 BABIP, as his FIP was 4.40).

McDaniel’s Baseball Cube player ratings
K/BB 71
Walks 64
Strikeouts 61
Durability 53
vs. Power 39
Hittable 39
Average 54.50

Starting the 2025 season at 24 years old, McDaniel will look to work his way up to Birmingham and beyond.

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2025 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox Prospects

100. Cole McConnell, CF
99. Drake Logan, LF
98. Marcelo Alcala, RF
97. Lyle Miller-Green, 1B
96. Jared Kelley, RHRP
95. Adrian Gil, 1B
94. Adam Hackenberg, C
93. Loidel Chapelli, 2B
92. Eddie Park, CF
91. Chase Plymell, RHRP
90. Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa, RHRP
89. Tristan Stivors, RHRP
88. Pierce George, RHRP
87. Wes Kath, 3B
86. Daniel González, LHRP
85. Mikey Kane, 1B
84. Shane Murphy, LHSP
83. Connor McCullough, RHSP
82. Braden Shewmake, SS
81. Caleb Freeman, RHRP
80. Michael Turner, C
79. Drew McDaniel, RHSP