Chicago White Sox: Can Adam Engel be the long term answer in center field?

The Chicago White Sox have an influx of young talent in their organization and Adam Engel is trying to prove that he is a part of that group.

With a farm system that is currently ranked as the third best in MLB, it’s easy to just focus on prospects and lose sight of young guys that are currently on the roster. Adam Engel is one of those guys that is trying not to get lost in the shuffle for the Chicago White Sox.

Engel was originally drafted by Chicago in the 19th round of the 2013 draft. He displayed a high level of athleticism and speed right from the start as evidenced by his 135 stolen bases during his first three seasons in the organization.

And though he did’t winning any batting titles (.260 career average) during his four years in the minor leagues, he did show the ability to get on base (.341 OBP).  Which for a guy with his speed is arguably more important than the average.

Not only did his speed translate to stolen bases, but it allowed him to shine defensively. He owned  a .986 fielding percentage during his time in the minors, committing only 15 errors in over 1000 chances.

In 2015, Engel was named to the All-Star team while he was with Winston-Salem Dash of the Carolina League (Class A/Advanced). He swiped a staggering 65 bases in 76 attempts while playing a stellar center field.

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That same year he also tore up the Arizona Fall League on his way to being named to the All-Prospect team, the Rising Stars list and eventually the league MVP.

After splitting time between all three minor league levels in 2016, Engel finally got his shot in the big leagues in 2017. He was called up briefly in May of last year and then again in June and remained on the big league roster for the remainder of the season.

And for the most part, it wasn’t pretty.

In 97 games he finished with a slash line of .166/.235/.282 and struck out 117 times in just over 300 at-bats. He simply looked overmatched at the plate and the results reflected that.

Though as bad as he was offensively, he was nearly flawless on defense. In fact, by the end of the 2017 season he was among the best in baseball according to a new Statcast metric, Outs Above Average.

In short, this metric expresses the number of plays made by an outfielder taking into account the degree of difficulty and how often an average fielder would have made the same play.

Engel finished the 2017 season tied for third (with Mookie Betts) in Outs Above Average, ahead of guys like Lorenzo Cain, Kevin Kiermaier and Jason Heyward. All of whom are considered top defensive outfielders.

It was clear that Engel had value with his speed and defense. If he could just be an average hitter, the White Sox may have something.

So he made some adjustments to his swing during the offseason and thus far in spring training he looks like a different guy at the plate. He currently carries a slash line of .364/.429/.682 and is tied for the team lead with four homeruns.

It’s only spring training, but those numbers are a far cry from where he was at the end of 2017 — so are his swing and overall approach at the plate.

“I’m leg kicking a little bit more,” Engel said. “The angle of the bat before I swing is different. Last year I kind of had it at a weird angle so just trying to get myself in a position to get to the zone a little bit more efficiently than I was last year.

He added, “I’m feeling good, just a little bit more rhythm in the swing. It’s helping me feel like I’m more on time and stuff like that, and I’m just more comfortable at the plate.”

According to Chicago White Sox beat reporter James Fegan of the Athletic Chicago, the changes in Engel’s swing were done to emphasize more contact and take advantage of his speed. His high strikeout and fly ball rate in 2017 negated his biggest asset and the team wanted to change that.

Engel has some natural pop in his bat, but the team will gladly trade some of that power for more consistent contact. Chicago White Sox manager Rick Renteria just wants to see Engel put the ball in play and find more ways to get on base.

“He’s a strong kid,” Renteria said. “Even when he was hitting from a more stationary position when he puts the bat on the ball he can drive the ball a long way. Honestly, we just need him to touch the ball a little bit more, spray the ball around. He can hit his homers when he hits them but try to get him on base as much as possible.”

The question now is, can Engel carry this success over into the regular season and become the Chicago White Sox everyday center fielder?

Time will tell, but as of now it appears as though he will get a shot to be the guy.

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He has had some competition in camp as Ryan Cordell has also been impressive at the plate. But with his defensive ability and big league experience, Engel will likely get first crack at the job.

And if he can find some consistency at the plate to compliment his defense, he may just keep the job for a while.