Chase Krogman Overcomes Long Layoff

Anxious to get back to playing baseball after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the 2020 minor league season, Chase Krogman came out swinging.

The 20-year-old outfielder was assigned to Low-A Kannapolis and went 4-for-8 with two walks in three games. In the season opener, the lefthanded hitter crushed a mammoth home run.

“For a high school player to step up like that, it’s impressive,” said White Sox assistant general manager and farm director Chris Getz.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Krogman was hit by a pitch in his third game with the Cannon Ballers, landing him on the injured list with a fractured hamate bone.

That created another unwanted layoff, but Krogman figures to build on the auspicious start when he gets back in the lineup.

“He’s a guy to keep an eye on,” Getz said.

A 34th-round pick from Liberty (Mo.) High in 2019, Krogman could have played college baseball at Missouri State.

Instead, he jumped at Chicago’s $190,000 bonus offer and went on to play seven games in the Rookie-level Arizona League.

“After we drafted him, he didn’t get a lot of reps at the AZL,” Getz said. “And then obviously with 2020 not having a season there, that was taken away from him.”

Krogman tried to keep his swing sharp in the St. Louis-area CarShield Collegiate League and he did just that, hitting .398/.510/.590 for the O’Fallon Hoots.

Jake Burger, Chicago’s first-round pick in 2017 from Missouri State, also played in the CarShield League.

Krogman headed to Chicago’s instructional league after the season and that’s where he really started getting noticed by Getz and his staff.

“At the plate, he’s got an idea in regards to an approach,” Getz said. “He can drive the baseball, he can hit a fastball, hit the ball to all fields. He’s got power, he can find the gaps and he’s an aggressive overall hitter with some plate discipline. So there are some things that we like.”

Krogman has good enough speed to play center field “in a pinch,” according to Getz, but the White Sox project him to play a corner.

CHI-LITES

— After a three-year layoff, third baseman Jake Burger hit six home runs in his first 14 games with Triple-A Charlotte.

— Three of Chicago’s top pitching prospects, righthanders Jared Kelley, Matthew Thompson and Andrew Dalquist, opened the season in Low-A Kannapolis’ rotation.