2025 South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 47: Trey McGough
A plug-and-play lefty with upside, acquired at minimal cost
Trey McGough
Left-Handed Relief Pitcher
6´3´´
195 pounds
Age: 26
First appearance among the South Side Sox Top 100 Prospects
2024 High Level Charlotte (AAA)
Age relative to high level -1.0 years
SSS rank among all left-handed relievers in the system 1
Overall 2024 stats 6-2 ⚾️ 42 games (1 start, 8 finishes) ⚾️ 2 SV ⚾️ 81 2⁄3 IP ⚾️ 1.98 ERA ⚾️ 1.016 WHIP ⚾️ 88 K ⚾️ 29 BB
Trey McGough came to the White Sox at the trade deadline last summer in exchange for Eloy Jiménez, and didn’t miss a single beat while piecing together the best season of his career.
He started 2024 for Baltimore’s Double-A Bowie Baysox and played there for about a third of his season. McGough then spent his other two-thirds of 2024 in Triple-A, split among the Orioles and White Sox Triple-A clubs. (Oddly enough, his Norfolk Tides were facing the Charlotte Knights at the time of the trade, one of those rare, pack-your-bags-and-cross-the-field deals.)
Injury had held the southpaw to just 15 games combined in 2022-23, so to see him bounce back with such an incredible campaign, right at the doorstep of the majors, was a significant surprise.
Trey McGough for AAA Charlotte tonight:
— Tyler Cenko (@BryanKeBryan) August 7, 2024
2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, (H)
2024 Stats (AA+AAA):
58.1 IP // 60 K // 1.85 ERA // 0.94 WHIPpic.twitter.com/IjF3JhnPFZ
McGough was originally a 24th Round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates, claimed on waivers after the 2022 season by Baltimore.
There’s little doubt McGough is on the short list to break camp as a lefty in the White Sox pen, as his invite to MLB Spring Training this month would indicate. Whether his scintillating 2024 was a mirage or a harbinger of a productive career to come, on this White Sox roster he’ll get a once-, twice- and thrice-over.
McGough’s Baseball Cube player ratings
Walks 73
K/BB 69
vs. Power 65
Hittable 65
Durability 63
Strikeouts 41
Average 62.67
One impediment to McGough getting any real scratch on the South Side is that he’s at best No. 5 on the lefty depth chart in the pen behind MLB vets Cam Booser, Fraser Ellard, Tyler Gilbert and Jared Shuster. While Shuster could see a move to the rotation and any one of the four (or more) could flame out in 2025, the path to the majors is not wide-open for McGough. He could pitch his way onto the roster this spring, but more than likely his fate (Charlotte vs. Chicago) will rest on how those other four fare.
2025 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox Prospects
47. Trey McGough, LHRP
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