The early performances from the White Sox ’09 draft class have been, to say the least, something of a mixed bag, but Bristol Sox duo Brady Shoemaker and Joe Serafin have made fast starts to their professional careers.

Brady Shoemaker, a 6′ 0″, 200 pound outfielder, drafted out of Indiana State in the 19th round, leads the Appalachian League in batting average (.420) and OBP (.458) and is amongst the league leaders in a multitude of other categories such as SLG (.636, 5th) and doubles (10, T-2nd). What’s perhaps even more impressive though is that he’s hit in every game he’s played thus far, that’s all 22 of them and he already has 9 multi-hit games one of which was a 5-5 two home run massacre of Kingsport Mets pitching.

It’s not just on the field where Shoemaker has been opening eyes though, his dedication and professionalism off the field received special note from Bristol manager Ryan Newman, who said the following about him in the Bristol Herald Courier:
“He’s real quiet in the locker room. He takes care of his business and goes about his work as a professional. It’s great to have a guy like that in the clubhouse and in the middle of your lineup.”

Joe Serafin, a diminutive lefty drafted out of Vermont in the 37th round, leads the Appalachian League in both ERA (0.31), the next closest qualified pitcher to him is Trevor Shull who has a 1.50 ERA, and WHIP (0.69) and he is also tied for first in wins (4). Serafin mainly throws a fastball-curve ball combo, with his fastball clocking in around the high 80’s which he has combined with impeccable control (0.93 BB/9) to limit opposing batters to a meagre .177 average against.

In somewhat similar fashion to one rather more famous White Sox lefty, Mark Buehrle, Joe Serafin likes to work quickly, very quickly. A prime example of this speed on the mound was his July 8th start against the Burlington Royals, a game in which he picked up the victory after throwing 6 shutout innings, the game lasted just 1 hour and 55 minutes. Joe says that working quickly helps him to keep his focus on the game and not on any outside factors and it certainly seems to be working for him so far.

Serafin and Shoemaker may not grade out highly as prospects for the future, and both are likely to fizzle out as they make their way through the system due to a lack of stuff and tools, but until that happens, long may their success continue.