Chicago White Sox MLB Draft Player Comparisons

#1: Nick Madrigal

Round 1, Pick 4

Infielder, Oregon State

MLB Player Comparison: Jose Altuve

The beauty of baseball is that size doesn’t equal success. Anybody can be successful playing baseball no matter their weight or height.

Nick Madrigal weighs in at just 160 pounds and measures in at just 5-foot-7.

Luckily for Madrigal, the reigning American League MVP happens to be 5-foot-6 and 165 pounds.

Not only that, but Madrigal and Altuve play with the same energy, mentality and style.

Madrigal hit .406 for Oregon State this season, striking out just five times all season. In Altuve’s MVP season, the second baseman hit .346 with just 84 strikeouts in 590 at-bats.

Both Altuve and Madrigal use their speed as defining qualities of their game, as Altuve stole 32 bases in 2017 while Madrigal was not thrown out stealing at all in 2018.

Madrigal’s power will need to greatly improve if he wants to live up to the Altuve comparison — Altuve hit 24 home runs last season, while Madrigal hit just three in his junior season.

But Madrigal has the size, skill and potential to make the same sort of impact as Jose Altuve.

Big things can come in little packages, and Nick Madrigal is well on his way to doing huge things on the South Side.