White Sox Prospect George Wolkow Has Power Worth Waiting For
The White Sox won’t be rushing 6-foot-7 outfielder George Wolkow, who turns 19 in January.
Signing scout J.J. Lally is a huge believer in Wolkow’s potential, but predicted he will “get his rear end kicked over and over” for his first few years in pro ball. White Sox farm director Paul Janish termed Wolkow’s goal for 2024 to be acclimating to professional baseball.
Wolkow was the youngest player on a Low-A Kannapolis roster that fell a game shy of winning the Carolina League. In that context, his .241/.342/.428 batting line with 11 home runs in 76 games and enormous top-end exit velocities stand out.
That is especially true after scouts saw Wolkow overmatched in extended spring training, and then when he struck out 30 times in his first 12 games for Kannapolis.
But Wolkow isn’t concerned.
“I set my goals and expectations pretty high,” Wolkow said. “I want to be hard on myself, maybe too hard at times. Overall, I would say this year hasn’t been too great, but there’s been some good moments.”
Wolkow’s goal wasn’t to reach Kannapolis this summer, his first full season after being drafted in the seventh round out of high school in 2023, it was to break camp with the Cannon Ballers—and eventually graduate from the Carolina League.
“He wants to play in the major leagues,” Janish said. “He’s very outspoken about that, which to me is super encouraging.”
“It’s all about keeping him in a good place mentally,” Kannapolis manager Pat Leyland said. “He’s getting better at a rapid pace, but it’s not fast enough for him.”
A strikeout rate near 41% at Kannapolis—which was somewhat expected for a raw, long-levered teenager—shows Wolkow was sufficiently challenged. He made a post-game routine of poring over swing-decision reports to understand the patterns in his excessive chasing.
More challenging for Wolkow’s development is his high in-zone miss rate. Time in the organization’s hitting lab in Arizona has taught Wolkow that his frame generates elite bat speed, and he’s working to accept that he doesn’t need max-effort swings to produce the power he covets.
