The Chicago White Sox went up the middle with their first-round pick, selecting high school shortstop Billy Carlson with the No. 10 pick in the 2025 MLB draft on Sunday.
Carlson had a .365 batting average with a .517 on-base percentage in his senior year at Corona (California) High School, according to MLB.com. The 18-year-old, a right-handed batter, is 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds.
It’s the third time in the last five years the Sox have drafted a shortstop in the first round. They took Colson Montgomery out of Southridge High School in Indiana in 2021. In 2023, the Sox selected Mississippi shortstop Jacob Gonzalez in the first round.
Montgomery made his major-league debut on July 4. Gonzalez is at Double-A Birmingham.
Carlson, a Tennessee commit, was listed as the No. 7 prospect for the draft by MLB.com.
Corona baseball coach Andy Wise recently told Devon Henderson of the Southern California News Group: “(Carlson) was a freshman who spent some time on the freshman team here. It’s not like he walked in and demanded anything. He worked hard and believed in what we were doing, and his development went through the roof, and he’s turned himself into what he is today.”
