White Sox No. 2 prospect eager to take in Futures Game

CLEVELAND -- There will be plenty of boxes to check for Oscar Colas, the No. 2 White Sox prospect per MLB Pipeline, when the 23-year-old travels to Los Angeles this weekend.

For starters, Colas will be part of the American League squad for Saturday night’s SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Dodger Stadium. He also plans to take in the entire atmosphere of the Midsummer Classic while in attendance, with the All-Star Game scheduled for Tuesday night. And Colas’ family will be involved, even if they aren’t in California.

“Probably just to go there and call my family in Cuba, and show them everything about the All-Star Game and everything around the festivities,” Colas said through interpreter Billy Russo during a Wednesday Zoom call. “When I was in Cuba, I wasn't really thinking about it. I never thought about being an All Star and being in an All-Star Game or anything like that because we didn't have that information.

“Now I'm going to be there and I'm going to be surrounded by the best players and prospects in the league. It's something that, wow, I want to share with my family. I'm definitely going to call them and show them videos about how is everything over there. Hopefully just share that moment with them. It won't be in person, but I'm going to do all that I can just to show them how that is."

Colas’ entire first season with the White Sox has been one to share with his family, after joining the organization as an international free agent via a $2.7 million contract in January. The Cuban native began the season with High-A Winston-Salem, slashing .312/.369/.475 with seven home runs, 42 RBIs and 37 runs scored.

In his first game since being promoted this week to Double-A Birmingham, the left-handed hitting Colas went 1-for-5. He made changes in his swing mechanics during Spring Training, which have been easier to adjust to than he expected.

“I used to have a leg kick when I was swinging and then during Spring Training. By the end of Spring Training, we made adjustments just to not do that and just keep my foot on the ground. Just to be able to reduce the strikeouts and have more contact with the ball,” Colas said. “And it was a fairly easy adjustment for me and the results were there right away.

“Now not doing that, I see I have better results. I’m able to see the ball better and I think that’s a surprise because I never thought that would be something I would feel comfortable with.”

Chris Getz, the White Sox assistant general manager/player development, has been impressed by Colas’ offense and defense.

“Oscar's been fun to watch. He's a physical player, he's aggressive, he's got plenty of power, he's got great hands at the plate,” Getz said. “One thing that really stood out this year is his ability to play center field.

“Going into his season I figured, long term, probably a corner outfielder. But he's shown the ability to play center field. He commands the outfield, he gets after it, covers ground and he's got a big arm. When you look at what he can do offensively and his defensive ability, it looks like we've got a chance to have a pretty good all-around player.”

That talented player will be showing off his overall ability this weekend as one of the stars of the future, an honor that shocked Colas when he first heard.

“It feels good just that your work has been acknowledged,” Colas said. “It's just a matter of keep working hard and keep moving forward in my development process."