The White Sox drafted Colby Shelton and Anthony DePino with the idea that both could move quickly through the minor leagues, and after dominant starts in Winston-Salem, both infielders are already headed to Double-A Birmingham.
With consecutive picks in the sixth and seventh rounds of the 2025 MLB Draft, the Chicago White Sox selected two college infielders who looked capable of rising through the minor leagues quickly.
With the 166th overall selection, the White Sox took Florida shortstop Colby Shelton, a three-year SEC standout. Shelton demonstrated the ability to hit for both average and power during his college career, depending on the approach he took at the plate.
Then, with the 196th overall selection, the White Sox selected Rhode Island third baseman Anthony DePino. DePino batted .354 during his senior season at Rhode Island and was the only player in Division I baseball to record 20-plus home runs and 20-plus stolen bases during the 2025 season.
Neither player entered professional baseball as a highly ranked prospect. Neither is currently in MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 prospects for the White Sox organization. But both players showed enough ability in college to believe they could move quickly through the minor leagues once turning pro. Now, that’s proving to be the case.
Neither Shelton nor DePino did much to stand out during a brief stint with Low-A Kannapolis after signing in 2025, but both have gotten off to strong starts with High-A Winston-Salem in 2026, and now both have earned promotions to Double-A Birmingham.
DePino is hitting .265 with seven doubles, six home runs, 22 RBIs, and an .859 OPS in 32 games this season.
Shelton is the real player to watch between the two. In 31 games, he’s batting .339 with 13 doubles, seven home runs, 29 RBIs, and a 1.125 OPS. He was also named the South Atlantic League Player of the Month for April.
As previously mentioned, the scouting report on Shelton coming out of college was that he had tremendous ability at the plate, both as a contact hitter and a power hitter, but he had never consistently demonstrated the ability to do both at the same time. During his collegiate career, he often sacrificed one for the other depending on his approach.
So far in 2026, Shelton has put everything together. He’s hitting for contact, driving the baseball with authority and power, and getting on base at a .464 clip because he’s walking just as often as he strikes out.
The entire purpose behind these draft selections for the White Sox was to target college players capable of moving quickly through the minor leagues and potentially impacting an MLB roster. So it comes as no surprise to see Shelton and DePino earn promotions, and I would be surprised if this ends up being their final move upward this season.
Both players are already 23 years old, so if they continue producing the way they did in High-A once they arrive in Birmingham, a promotion to Triple-A feels inevitable.
Not that there’s necessarily room for more infielders in the White Sox’s long-term outlook, but that’s beside the point right now. I like seeing the White Sox reward production from some of their better-performing minor league hitters. Caleb Bonemer should be next in line, joining his former Winston-Salem Dash teammates in Birmingham with the Barons.