One of the prospects with the highest ceiling on this list, Cristian Mena could be one of the better international signings from the White Sox as of late. Mena was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2019 for $250,000. He would finally make his way stateside in 2021, where he would pitch at the Arizona Complex League.
There, Mena would start 12 games as an 18-year-old, which made him one of the youngest players in that league. He would get hit very hard, as he gave up 69 hits in just 48 innings, with eight of those hits being home runs. That was good for a .337 batting average against him. He would also walk 21, which isn’t that bad, but contributed to his inflated 1.86 WHIP. On the bright side, he would strike out 62 batters in those 48 innings, which shows elite strikeout stuff. Overall, not a great body of work in Arizona, but he was much younger than his competition and still struck out batters at an elite rate.
In 2022, he would finally make his minor league debut, starting out in Kannapolis. There he would pitch very well over 11 games. He had a 2.68 ERA over 58 innings, with 66 strikeouts. He would lower his WHIP to 1.12 and hitters only hit .227 against him. This is a big improvement from 2021 and earned him a promotion to A+ Winston-Salem.
At Winston-Salem he would start 10 games, throwing 40 innings. He would only give up 39 hits, but he walked 22 batters. He would still show his strikeout stuff as he struck out 47 batters in that timeframe. His stats were inflated a bit from Kannapolis, as he would post a 4.65 ERA and a 1.5 WHIP. Still, not bad for a 19-year-old in A+ ball.
The White Sox seemed to be impressed as they would promote him to his third level in 2022. He would make three starts, only pitching 10 innings. He would get hit hard, posting a 6.3 ERA and a 1.7 WHIP, but he still showed his strikeout stuff, as he struck out 13 batters in that small sample size. It was nice for him to get a taste of Project Birmingham, as that is where he would start his 2023 season.
In 2023 he would pitch pretty well, making his way all the way to AAA. This is pretty impressive for a pitcher who isn’t even 21 yet. He would start 23 games for the Birmingham Barons throwing 114 innings, his most to date. His stats vastly improved, as he had a 4.66 ERA with a 1.35 WHIP. He didn’t get hit nearly as hard, as hitters only hit .235 against him. He would post an impressive 136 strikeouts during these innings, which is insanely impressive.
This impressive season got him a promotion to AAA at the end of the year, where he would start four games, pitching 19 innings. He didnt fare well there, as he got hit hard, but again he struck out more than one batter an inning. He will start there again next year unless he performs well in Spring Training and earns a spot.
I would give him a B for his performance this year. He can strikeout batters with the best of them, he just needs to work more on commanding his pitches and he will truly be elite. If the White Sox don’t make many moves in the rotation this offseason, there is a chance you will see him in Chicago towards the end of the year.
