The One Hitter – The Everson Pereira Roller Coaster

This is the one hitter, don’t forget to exhale…

This past November, the White Sox acquired Everson Pereira along with Tanner Murray from the Rays in exchange for Steven Wilson and Yoendrys Gomez. Pereira is what is referred to as a post-hype prospect, a once touted prospect that is now 25-29, out of minor league options, and has not found a spot on a major league roster. A buy low scenario for the White Sox on a prospect that even prospect hounds have had a roller coaster of emotions about:

From Fangraphs rankings: In 2019, he ranked 7th in the Yankees system at 17 years old as a toolsy 17 year old projecting as a CF. In 2020 and 2021 he ranked 20th and 18th respectively, mainly due to the swing and miss becoming apparent in his profile. In 2022 he shot back up to number 8 after hitting 20 HR in 49 games between the Complex League and High A. In 2023 his ascension continued as he reached number 4, but there was beginning to be growing concern over his hit tool. In 2024 he fell to 17 and his season was drastically shortened when he blew out his elbow. In 2025 he continued downward to 21 and his time with the Yankees org came to an end when he was traded to Tampa.

He was signed by the Yankees almost 9 years ago and at age 25, we have about 1800 PAs in the minors to look at. The power seems real, the strikeouts are very real and in just 33 innings and 15 plate appearances, I feel like we’ve run the gamut of emotions about him. On the FromThe108 podcast after game 1, I said something to the effect of “he did not look like he had a clue at the plate.” My guy Liam Menus laid it out in this tweet:

Since then, Pereira has homered, doubled, and is sitting at a .905 OPS. He’s also made a throwing decision that resembles that of Lenyn Sosa, allowing a runner to advance that shouldn’t have, while also displaying that his arm can certainly play in RF. Then he tried to tear his foot off of his body using the outfield wall. A lot has happened in a short while.

All of this is to say that Pereira is young, his minor league career was heavily interrupted by the pandemic and injuries, and he is poised to get a lot of run with this team. I would never tell you to “enjoy the ride”, I am only here to tell you that it is going to be a wild ride.

-Chorizy-E