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While a senior for King’s Ridge Christian School in Alpharetta, Ga., Fraser Ellard posted a 7-1 record and 1.12 ERA as a senior. After spending a year with Truett-McConnell CC (Cleveland, Ga.), Ellard spent the next three years pitching for tiny Lander University (Greenwood, S.C.), where as a senior he posted an impressive 1.38 ERA in 26 innings as a starter before the pandemic shutdown. Ellard transferred to Liberty University as a redshirt senior and posted a 3.65 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 26 outings while striking out 63 in 44 1⁄3 innings. The White Sox liked him enough to select him in the eighth round of the 2021 draft.
While performing well in an abbreviated three-game stint with the ACL Sox, Ellard struggled a bit with Kannapolis, posting a 4.96 ERA and 1.73 WHIP in 11 appearances. In 16 1⁄3 innings for the Cannon Ballers, he surrendered 19 hits (.275 OBA) and 10 walks (12.3%) while fanning 21 (25.9%). He doesn’t possess blazing stuff, but he does have a fairly deceptive delivery that hides the ball until just the last moment.
In 2022, Ellard was challenged by the White Sox, with a fairly aggressive promotion to Winston-Salem. Fraser proved up to the task, with a 3.78 ERA and some closing duty; a year older than his High-A peers, the White Sox again challenged Fraser, with a move in late May up to Double-A Birmingham. The southpaw struggled there, but not so much as to stifle his upward mobility in the system.
All told, Ellard missed about 3 1⁄2 months in 2023, with two separate stints on the IL and a truncated start and end to his season. He scuffled badly during his second Double-A stint, which made his inclusion as part of the AFL contingent for the White Sox a bit curious. However, in a small sample size (nine games, nine innings) at Glendale in October, Ellard was NAILS, pitching to a 2.00 ERA and 14 strikeouts against one walk.
Fraser’s Baseball Cube player ratings
Strikeouts 78 (+5 from last year’s ratings)
Durability 70 (-8)
K/BB 61 (+2)
Walks 46 (-3)
Hittable 39 (-8)
vs. Power 39 (-8)
Ellard’s strong Arizona Fall League was a great turn for him, and if in fact that was his sole or most healthy moments in 2023, it bodes well for his future success. However, his third shot at mastering Double-A may be his last with the White Sox, so the pressure is on for him to square that away and see time in Charlotte this summer.
