The White Sox have one of the better farm systems in all of baseball, as they have five to seven consensus top-100 prospects among the major outlets. This is great, as these talented prospects can join the current crop of young and promising talent.
While most of the top players in the White Sox farm system have gotten off to a good start to the 2026 season, there have been some notable names outside of the consensus guys that have been making a name for themselves.
One of the most impressive starts has come from someone who isn’t even on the current MLB Pipeline White Sox top-30 list, however that will change very shortly. That player is Colby Shelton.
Shelton was selected in the 6th round in last year’s draft as a shortstop out of the University of Florida. Shelton started his career with Alabama, but after a very successful freshman season where he hit .300, adding 25 homeruns and 51 RBIs, Shelton transferred to Florida.
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That success continued in his second collegiate season, as he showed off his power numbers once again, hitting .254 with 20 homeruns and 56 RBls. However, in his last college season, he became more of an all-around hitter, as his average jumped up to .377 with an impressive .458 OBP. The power took a bit of a dip, as he hit 7 homers and had 35 RBIs, but it was still a very good season.
After being drafted, Shelton played in 27 games with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, hitting .141 with one homerun and 10 RBIs. While this wasn’t exactly the start he was hoping for, it was an extremely small sample size.
This year has been a completely different story, as he has been arguably the most productive player in the entire minor leagues.
In 15 games, Shelton is hitting .421 with an insane .501 OBP. He’s added four homeruns, 21 RBIs, and three stolen bases. He has walked eight times and struck out 11 times. These are video game numbers.
Colby Shelton goes Back to Back with Bonemer for his 4th HR and 21st RBI (#1 in the SAL). #Dash up 2-0 in the T1. pic.twitter.com/cwJLlkSgld
— FutureSox (@FutureSox) April 21, 2026
Shelton is on pace to fly up prospect rankings, as he could be a top-100 prospect in the entire league if he keeps up this pace. However, this pace is likely unsustainable, but he will certainly fly up the White Sox system rankings and be come a top-10 prospect for them.
At this point Shelton is looking like a steal in the draft and he will likely be promoted to Birmingham before the all-star break, getting him one step closer to Chicago.
