White Sox sign top pick Hagen Smith, 19 other draftees

ARLINGTON, Texas — The White Sox announced signings of their draft picks Tuesday, with No. 5 overall Hagen Smith, a power-armed left-hander from Arkansas topping the list.

Smith was signed to an $8 million bonus, and second-round shortstop Caleb Bonemer of Okemos (Mich.) High School signed for $3 million.

All but one draftee has been signed by the Sox. Here’s the list:

The 6-3, 225-pound Smith, 20, is ranked by MLB.com as the No. 5 prospect in the draft. He went 9-2 with a 2.04 ERA and 161 strikeouts over 16 starts with Arkansas this season. He was named National Pitcher of the Year by numerous outlets, including ABCA/Rawlings, the Collegiate Baseball Foundation and Perfect Game, and was a unanimous First Team All-American selection by Baseball America, D1Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Eloy stays grounded

In 225 plate appearances entering Tuesday, Eloy Jimenez has produced a soft, non-threatening .238/.298/345 batting line with five home runs. That’s a far cry from the .296/.332/.559 line with 14 homers in 226 plate appearances he put up during the abbreviated 2020 season that garnered a Silver Slugger Award, a year after his rookie season that saw him pound out 31 homers and finish fourth in AL Rookie of the Year.

Jimenez has a 60.8% ground ball rate, a number that has risen steadily over his six seasons.

“That’s been his thing, too,” hitting coach Marcus Thames said. “He’s always had a high ground ball rate, and he’s dealt with the leg injuries. I don’t know what else is going on, but we’re talking to him, doing different drills. We just have to find a way to get the ball off the ground.”

Jimenez hasn’t homered since May 14. Six days later, he suffered a hamstring tear and since returning June 23 he’s batting .250 with 18 hits, but no homers, four doubles and five RBI. He was lifting the ball in spring training after making an adjustment in the offseason, but it’s not happening now.

“It’s not that easy but he knows it,” Thames said. “He hasn’t had that feeling of making that mechanical adjustment yet to do that.”

Signed to a six-year, $43 million contract during spring training of 2019 while he was the No. 3-ranked prospect in the majors who hadn’t played a game, Jimenez has club options for $16.5 million and $18.5 million in the next two seasons that won’t be picked up. He’s earning $13 million this season.

“Eloy is a tremendously talented young player who has impressed us with his baseball skills, poise and maturity from the moment he joined the White Sox organization,” former White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said at the time. “We view him as an important member of the core we are building over the coming years and so are pleased to have reached this long-term agreement to have him in a White Sox uniform for many seasons to come.”