Nick Madrigal

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Chicago White Sox #3 prospect in 2021
  Hitting: 60. Power: 30. Running: 60. Fielding: 50. Arm: 50.
  
  TRACK RECORD: Madrigal was an unconventional top draft prospect because of his 5-foot-7 stature, but he was a prolific hitter at Oregon State and was drafted fourth overall by the White Sox in 2018. Madrigal burnished his reputation as an elite contact hitter with just 21 strikeouts in 705 minor league plate appearances. He made his major league debut on July 31, but he missed three weeks with a separated shoulder that required offseason surgery.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Madrigal has been the same player since college. He’s an aggressive hitter who makes tons of contact, rarely walks and doesn’t show much home run power. His swing is short, quick and geared for line drives. He lines the ball to all fields and is almost wholly a singles and doubles hitter. Madrigal has nearly bottom-of-the-scale power, but he plays to his strengths and doesn’t try to do too much. Madrigal is a plus runner who stole 35 bases in his final minor league season in 2019. He is a steady, sound defender at second base with quick feet and soft hands, though his arm strength is average at best.
  
  THE FUTURE: The White Sox are optimistic Madrigal’s surgery will not affect his future. He projects as a top-of-the order menace who sprays balls around the diamond and wreaks havoc on the bases.
• 
  Ranked Chicago White Sox #4 prospect in 2020
  TRACK RECORD: All Madrigal does is hit. That has been true at Oregon State—where he was part of the Beavers' 2018 College World Series winning team—in summer collegiate leagues and as a pro. Madrigal has maintained a .309 average over his first season and a half in the minors and has walked more times (51) than he's struck out (21). He made it to Triple-A Charlotte by the end of 2019 and looks like another enviable piece in a White Sox lineup that is becoming younger and more talented.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Madrigal's biggest strength is his ability to make contact, which he's done with aplomb. He has exceptional hand-eye coordination, which allows him to manipulate the barrel to any part of the strike zone with ease. After being an almost exclusively opposite-field hitter in his introduction to the minor leagues, Madrigal learned to pull the ball more in 2019 and produced an all-fields spray chart. He has shown almost no over-the-fence power as a pro or in college, with just 12 home runs over 1,240 combined at-bats. His last home run in 2019 stayed inside the park. After playing some shortstop in college, Madrigal has played exclusively second base as a pro and shows the hands, range and feet for the position, but there are scouts who question whether his arm is strong enough to turn double plays while a runner is bearing down on him. He is a plus runner.
  
  THE FUTURE: Madrigal likely will return to Triple-A Charlotte to begin the year but should make his big league debut in 2020. He has all the skills to hit at the top or bottom of a lineup and provide defensive value up the middle.
• 
  Ranked Chicago White Sox #4 prospect in 2019
  Track Record: Madrigal’s Beavers won the College World Series, Oregon State’s first title since going back-to-back in 2006 and 2007. He missed much of the college season with a broken left wrist, but he was back on the field for the CWS and the draft, when Chicago selected him fourth overall.
  
  Scouting Report: Madrigal’s carrying tool is his uncanny ability to put the barrel on the ball while avoiding chasing out of the strike zone. He owes his contact ability to excellent hand-eye coordination that helps in the field as well. At 5-foot-8, Madrigal is not an imposing player, and he faces concerns about his below-average power. He hit just eight home runs in three seasons at Oregon State, and carded just seven extra-base hits (all doubles) as a pro. His opposite-field approach will require tweaks for him to ever hit for significant power. The White Sox plan to work with him to add a little more loft to his swing in an effort to maximize his power without sacrificing his contact skills. In the field, Madrigal will be tried at shortstop. He could be serviceable there and projects as an outstanding second baseman. Evaluators who watched Madrigal take grounders with Winston-Salem manager Omar Vizquel were impressed with how his hands compared with the 11-time Gold Glover’s. Madrigal’s accurate, average arm ticked up to above-average and even plus at times as he became more comfortable letting throws rip. He’s a plus runner whose speed should add to the value of his on-base skills.
  
  The Future: Madrigal will likely jump to Double-A in 2019 in his first full season. He has the ceiling of a middle infielder who could eventually compete for batting titles.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #3 prospect in 2018 draft
  Most 5-foot-7 second basemen wouldn't figure to be top-of-the first round talents if healthy, let alone if they had missed almost two months of their junior season. But Madrigal is far from the ordinary, undersized middle infielder, as he possesses arguably the best hit tool in the 2018 draft class. Northwest area scouts saw just six games of Madrigal (in which he hit over .500 with two home runs) before he went down with a broken left wrist after sliding into home plate during a February game against Ohio State. Fortunately, Madrigal''s track record is a lengthy one, as he played for USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team during the summer of 2017 and also hit .303/.342/.376 as an 18-year-old in the West Coast Collegiate League in 2015, with more walks than strikeouts. Many area scouts and scouting directors alike are convinced that Madrigal would be a top-10 selection even if he never came back to the field, given the non-chronic nature of his injury combined with his prolific feel for the barrel. While Madrigal will never be confused for a slugger and likely doesn't have much more fringe-average power, he makes the most of all the juice he has, with elite bat-to-ball skills that allows him to drive the gaps and use his speed to collect extra-base hits in the form of doubles and triples. He's not just a hitter, however, as Madrigal possesses plus-plus running ability and matches that skill with savvy baserunning prowess. A potential top-of-the-order hitter, Madrigal also projects as a plus defensive second baseman at the next level. The hands that allow him to hit with such apparent ease also translate to the field, where he is sure-handed and quick around the bag with enough arm strength for the keystone. Arm strength is the one knock on Madrigal--aside from his size--and scouts are split on whether he can be a major league shortstop, as Oregon State teammate Cadyn Grenier's defense was enough to push Madrigal to second base in 2016. Regardless of which side of the bag teams see him playing in the future, Madrigal seems like a lock to be taken inside of the first ten picks this June and could be a fast-moving college bat at the professional level, thanks to both his baseball skills and professional makeup and work ethic.
• Ranked #180 prospect in 2015 draft
  Listed at just 5-foot-8, 155 pounds, Madrigal is a mighty mite, a fast-handed shortstop who plays with energy and fire. He's a magician defensively at times thanks to tremendous hands, quick feet and strong instincts that give him plus range. He's played on high-profile travel ball teams in Northern California, and scouts have seen scores, if not hundreds, of his at-bats. If they have, they know Madrigal makes contact and his hands work at the plate, but he lacks the strength to drive the ball consistently. An Oregon State signee, he should play shortstop for the Beavers, but as a pro his instincts and range may not be enough to mask a fringy arm. Scouts praise Madrigal's winning attitude and work ethic.

Minor League Top Prospects

• 
  Ranked Southern League #17 prospect in 2019
  Madrigal served as a 5-foot-7 spark plug at Oregon State, and his scrappiness has transferred to pro ball, where he is virtually impossible to strike out. He struck out just five times with Birmingham and 16 times overall at three stops this season. Madrigal’s swinging-strike rate of 2 percent was the lowest in the full-season minors among qualified batters, according to estimates presented by FanGraphs.com. "You can’t strike him out. He just gets the barrel to the ball and finds holes,” Mobile manager David Newhan said. Madrigal makes an impact offensively as a plus hitter who handles all pitch types and serves the ball to all fields. His power is slight—but improving—and he helps generate runs on the bases with his plus speed and overall awareness. Madrigal is one of the best defensive second basemen in the minors, and while his arm grades merely average, it’s firm enough to turn the double play.
• 
  Ranked Carolina League #4 prospect in 2019
  Madrigal didn’t put up nearly the batting average he did later in the year in Double-A (.351 in 171 at-bats) or Triple-A (.342 in 114 at-bats), but he showed his usual elite bat-to-ball skills with Winston-Salem. "Nicky can change the game in many ways,” Winston-Salem manager Justin Jirschele said. "He has such a high baseball IQ. His bat-to-ball contact rate is through the roof, and he makes things happens with his legs.” After leading Oregon State to the national title in 2018, he signed for more than $6.4 million with the White Sox and finished his first professional summer with Winston-Salem. He didn’t need much time to vault to Double-A this year. Madrigal played exclusively at second base, but his previous experience at shortstop can only help. "He’s a solid defender,” Jirschele said. "He turns the double play at second as good as anyone. He has tremendous hands and good range.”

Top 100 Rankings

• Ranked Baseball America's #40 prospect in 2021
• Ranked Baseball America's #48 prospect in 2020
• Ranked Baseball America's #43 prospect in 2019

• March, 2021 Scouting Report
  Hitting: 60. Power: 30. Running: 60. Fielding: 50. Arm: 50.
  
  TRACK RECORD: Madrigal was an unconventional top draft prospect because of his 5-foot-7 stature, but he was a prolific hitter at Oregon State and was drafted fourth overall by the White Sox in 2018. Madrigal burnished his reputation as an elite contact hitter with just 21 strikeouts in 705 minor league plate appearances. He made his major league debut on July 31, but he missed three weeks with a separated shoulder that required offseason surgery.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Madrigal has been the same player since college. He’s an aggressive hitter who makes tons of contact, rarely walks and doesn’t show much home run power. His swing is short, quick and geared for line drives. He lines the ball to all fields and is almost wholly a singles and doubles hitter. Madrigal has nearly bottom-of-the-scale power, but he plays to his strengths and doesn’t try to do too much. Madrigal is a plus runner who stole 35 bases in his final minor league season in 2019. He is a steady, sound defender at second base with quick feet and soft hands, though his arm strength is average at best.
  
  THE FUTURE: The White Sox are optimistic Madrigal’s surgery will not affect his future. He projects as a top-of-the order menace who sprays balls around the diamond and wreaks havoc on the bases.
• December, 2020 Scouting Report
  Hitting: 60. Power: 30. Running: 60. Fielding: 50. Arm: 50.
  
  TRACK RECORD: Madrigal was an unconventional top draft prospect because of his 5-foot-7 stature, but he was a prolific hitter at Oregon State and was drafted fourth overall by the White Sox in 2018. Madrigal burnished his reputation as an elite contact hitter with just 21 strikeouts in 705 minor league plate appearances. He made his major league debut on July 31, but he missed three weeks with a separated shoulder that required offseason surgery.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Madrigal has been the same player since college. He’s an aggressive hitter who makes tons of contact, rarely walks and doesn’t show much home run power. His swing is short, quick and geared for line drives. He lines the ball to all fields and is almost wholly a singles and doubles hitter. Madrigal has nearly bottom-of-the-scale power, but he plays to his strengths and doesn’t try to do too much. Madrigal is a plus runner who stole 35 bases in his final minor league season in 2019. He is a steady, sound defender at second base with quick feet and soft hands, though his arm strength is average at best.
  
  THE FUTURE: The White Sox are optimistic Madrigal’s surgery will not affect his future. He projects as a top-of-the order menace who sprays balls around the diamond and wreaks havoc on the bases.
• July, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: All Madrigal does is hit. That has been true at Oregon State—where he was part of the Beavers’ 2018 College World Series winning team—in summer collegiate leagues and as a pro. Madrigal has maintained a .309 average over his first season and a half in the minors and has walked more times (51) than he’s struck out (21). He made it to Triple-A Charlotte by the end of 2019 and looks like another enviable piece in a White Sox lineup that is becoming younger and more talented.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Madrigal’s biggest strength is his ability to make contact, which he’s done with aplomb. He has exceptional hand-eye coordination, which allows him to manipulate the barrel to any part of the strike zone with ease. After being an almost exclusively opposite-field hitter in his introduction to the minor leagues, Madrigal learned to pull the ball more in 2019 and produced an all-fields spray chart. He has shown almost no over-the-fence power as a pro or in college, with just 12 home runs over 1,240 combined at-bats. His last home run in 2019 stayed inside the park. After playing some shortstop in college, Madrigal has played exclusively second base as a pro and shows the hands, range and feet for the position, but there are scouts who question whether his arm is strong enough to turn double plays while a runner is bearing down on him. He is a plus runner.
  
  THE FUTURE: Madrigal likely will return to Triple-A Charlotte to begin the year but should make his big league debut in 2020. He has all the skills to hit at the top or bottom of a lineup and provide defensive value up the middle.
• February, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: All Madrigal does is hit. That has been true at Oregon State—where he was part of the Beavers' 2018 College World Series winning team—in summer collegiate leagues and as a pro. Madrigal has maintained a .309 average over his first season and a half in the minors and has walked more times (51) than he's struck out (21). He made it to Triple-A Charlotte by the end of 2019 and looks like another enviable piece in a White Sox lineup that is becoming younger and more talented.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Madrigal's biggest strength is his ability to make contact, which he's done with aplomb. He has exceptional hand-eye coordination, which allows him to manipulate the barrel to any part of the strike zone with ease. After being an almost exclusively opposite-field hitter in his introduction to the minor leagues, Madrigal learned to pull the ball more in 2019 and produced an all-fields spray chart. He has shown almost no over-the-fence power as a pro or in college, with just 12 home runs over 1,240 combined at-bats. His last home run in 2019 stayed inside the park. After playing some shortstop in college, Madrigal has played exclusively second base as a pro and shows the hands, range and feet for the position, but there are scouts who question whether his arm is strong enough to turn double plays while a runner is bearing down on him. He is a plus runner.
  
  THE FUTURE: Madrigal likely will return to Triple-A Charlotte to begin the year but should make his big league debut in 2020. He has all the skills to hit at the top or bottom of a lineup and provide defensive value up the middle.
• December, 2018 Scouting Report
  Madrigal served as a 5-foot-7 spark plug at Oregon State, and his scrappiness has transferred to pro ball, where he is virtually impossible to strike out. He struck out just five times with Birmingham and 16 times overall at three stops this season. Madrigal’s swinging-strike rate of 2 percent was the lowest in the full-season minors among qualified batters, according to estimates presented by FanGraphs.com. "You can’t strike him out. He just gets the barrel to the ball and finds holes,” Mobile manager David Newhan said. Madrigal makes an impact offensively as a plus hitter who handles all pitch types and serves the ball to all fields. His power is slight—but improving—and he helps generate runs on the bases with his plus speed and overall awareness. Madrigal is one of the best defensive second basemen in the minors, and while his arm grades merely average, it’s firm enough to turn the double play.
• December, 2018 Scouting Report
  Madrigal didn’t put up nearly the batting average he did later in the year in Double-A (.351 in 171 at-bats) or Triple-A (.342 in 114 at-bats), but he showed his usual elite bat-to-ball skills with Winston-Salem. "Nicky can change the game in many ways,” Winston-Salem manager Justin Jirschele said. "He has such a high baseball IQ. His bat-to-ball contact rate is through the roof, and he makes things happens with his legs.” After leading Oregon State to the national title in 2018, he signed for more than $6.4 million with the White Sox and finished his first professional summer with Winston-Salem. He didn’t need much time to vault to Double-A this year. Madrigal played exclusively at second base, but his previous experience at shortstop can only help. "He’s a solid defender,” Jirschele said. "He turns the double play at second as good as anyone. He has tremendous hands and good range.”
• July, 2018 Scouting Report
  The 5-foot-7 Madrigal was arguably the best pure hitter in the draft class and answered enough questions about his size for the White Sox to make him the fourth pick in the 2018 Draft. He signed for just over $6.4 million after helping Oregon State to the College World Series title, Madrigal lacks power, but he has all the other tools to be a standout. He projects as an athletic second baseman with a polished bat who could move quickly through the system.