2025 South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 48: Ricardo Brizuela
So, let’s talk about the wildest card of our entire Top 100
Ricardo Brizuela
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
6´3´´
198 pounds
Age: 21
First appearance among the South Side Sox Top 100 Prospects
2024 High Level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level -0.6 years
SSS rank among all right-handed starters in the system 12
Overall 2024 stats 4-4 ⚾️ 20 games (12 starts, 5 finishes) ⚾️ 70 2⁄3 IP ⚾️ 3.57 ERA ⚾️ 1.075 WHIP ⚾️ 69 K ⚾️ 13 BB
There is no truth to the rumor that Ricardo Brizuela is ranked this high purely because we’re scared to ranked him lower than that. However, this righthander appeared out of nowhere ... I mean, we have a birthdate, but no birthplace. He does exist, however, really.
So, Brizuela snuck into the White Sox organization in 2022, from a Latin American country of undetermined origin. His debut in the DSL, at age 19, was nothing of note. Despite a 5.02 ERA served up during a who-is-this-guy hybrid starter-closer role, Brizuela moved Stateside in 2023 and was ... OK in Arizona, logging a 4.62 ERA still filling a starter-closer role (seriously how many pitchers in ACL history have recorded a complete game and save in the same season?).
If the White Sox even for sure knew Brizuela was going to suit up in 2024 — they’re not sure where he came from, after all — they might have told him it was a make-or-break year. But even without a memo, Brizuela seemed to get the message: Repeating Arizona out of the gate and shifting to a pure starter role, the righthander killed it with a 2.33 ERA over 10 starts, punctuated with 11.33 Ks per BB that reads as pure stupid. When the ACL broke for the summer, Brizuela got a ticket across country to Kannapolis, where he remained in the rotation and acquitted himself OK; his K/BB fell to mortal levels but he still was tossing less than one hit per inning.
Sometimes, we make some weird choices here, and one writer’s faith can push a prospect higher than he should be seeded. That’s the case here, and the guilty party is ... me. There’s something about a 10-game run of 34 strikeouts against three walks, a sub-.9 WHIP — I’ll admit it, I’ve got Brizuela Fever.
I am fully prepared to see Ricardo struggle in 2025 and perhaps even fall out of our Top 100. But he avoids contact, certainly contact that falls fair, and seems to have a strangehold sense of command. He pitched (slightly) young for his levels in 2024, so he wasn’t manhandling baby batters. In his first season as a pure starter, he put up a 3.57 ERA and took the big jump from rookie to A-ball without batting an eye.
Lemme tell you, if Brizuela kicks ass in 2025 you’re never gonna hear the end of it.
Brizuela’s Baseball Cube player ratings
Durability 89
K/BB 79
Walks 73
Strikeouts 60
vs. Power 45
Hittable 45
Average 65.17
Expect Brizuela to start off 2025 in Kannapolis, with a quick move up to the Dash if his work in the rotation is not fools’ gold. Depending on what all the gyroscopes and radar coverage on Brizuela tells them, there’s even a chance he breaks camp at Winston-Salem.
2025 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox Prospects
48. Ricardo Brizuela, RHSP
49. Lucas Gordon, LHSP
50. Aaron Combs, RHRP (traded to Phillies on January 1)
51. DJ Gladney, RF
52. Abraham Núñez, CF
53. Andre Lipcius, 1B
54. Shawn Goosenberg, 1B
55. Caden Connor, 1B
56. Mario Camilletti, 2B
57. Jake Peppers, RHSP
58. Ryan Burrowes, SS
59. Garrett Schoenle, LHRP
60. Jackson Appel, C
61. Tommy Vail, LHSP
62. Bryce Collins, RHRP
63. Tanner McDougal, RHSP
64. Stiven Flores, C
65. T.J. McCants, CF
66. Gil Luna, LHRP
67. Fraser Ellard, LHRP
68. Zach Franklin, RHRP
69. Drew Dalquist, RHRP
70. Nick Altermatt, RHRP
71. Carson Jacobs, RHRP
72. Alec Makarewicz, 1B
73. Jacob Burke, CF
74. Calvin Harris, C
75. Terrell Tatum, CF
76. Phil Fox, RHRP
77. Reudis Diaz, RHSP
78. Jurdrick Profar, SS
79. Drew McDaniel, RHSP
80. Michael Turner, C
81. Caleb Freeman, RHRP
82. Braden Shewmake, SS (designated for assignment on January 1, claimed by Royals)
83. Connor McCullough, RHSP
84. Shane Murphy, LHSP
85. Mikey Kane, 1B
86. Daniel González, LHRP
87. Wes Kath, 3B
88. Pierce George, RHRP
89. Tristan Stivors, RHRP
90. Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa, RHRP
91. Chase Plymell, RHRP
92. Eddie Park, CF
93. Loidel Chapelli, 2B
94. Adam Hackenberg, C
95. Adrian Gil, 1B
96. Jared Kelley, RHRP
97. Lyle Miller-Green, 1B
98. Marcelo Alcala, RF
99. Drake Logan, LF
100. Cole McConnell, CF