Caberea Weaver
Center Fielder
6´3´´
180 pounds
Age: 23
SSS rank among all center fielders in the system: 6
2020 SSHP Top Prospect Ranking: 54
2021 SSS Top Prospect Ranking: 67
Caberea Weaver was an amazing athlete out of South Gwinnett, Ga. In fact, Perfect Game ranked him as the 14th-best high school outfielder in the 2018 draft class in part due to his projectable bat and running the 60-yard dash in 6.27 seconds on a slow track.
Baseball America said of Weaver at the time of the draft, “He is an athletic, wiry outfielder with impressive athleticism that should allow him to become an above-average defender in center field. There is a lot of rawness in Weaver’s current game, both offensively and defensively. At the plate, Weaver has a whippy, quick bat and present strength that should continue to improve as he fills out.”
The White Sox selected him in the seventh round, and it took a $226,200 signing bonus to pry Weaver from his commitment to the University of Georgia. In 2018 with the AZL White Sox, Weaver slashed .248/.367/.342 in 50 games with five doubles, three triples, one homer, 11 RBIs, eight stolen bases, 18 walks (10.0%) and 52 strikeouts (28.9%).
Moving to Great Falls in 2019, Weaver posted similar numbers by slashing .254/.317/.377 in 62 games with 13 doubles, five triples, two homers, 18 RBIs, 10 stolen bases, 18 walks (6.9%) and 85 strikeouts (32.6%). Like most minor leaguers, Weaver didn’t play in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Weaver played most of the 2021 season in Kannapolis, although he spent an uneventful four weeks with Winston-Salem for parts of August and September. The center fielder struggled with the Cannon Ballers in 80 games, as he slashed just .214/.302/.338 with 11 doubles, seven homers, 25 stolen bases, 31 walks, 117 strikeouts and 79 wRC+. Unfortunately, Weaver was simply overmatched with the Dash in 19 games, as he slashed just .177/.200/.274 with a homer, four stolen bases, one walk, 29 strikeouts and a 24 wRC+. For the year, Weaver combined to slash .207/.285/.327 with 12 doubles, three triples, eight homers, 29 stolen bases, 32 walks (8.1%) and 146 strikeouts (37.1%).
This was the first year Weaver hit more fly balls than ground balls, so perhaps he may have been swinging more for the fences. Or perhaps he simply got off to a rough start and lost his confidence as the season progressed. Or possibly, he lacks the pitch-recognition skills to make further advances in the organization. Whatever the reasons, Weaver clearly needs to produce better contact to succeed.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the young man — Weaver significantly improved his walk rate (at least, he did with Kannapolis), produced a career high in homers, and swiped a boatload of bases considering his low OBP. He was also nearly two years younger on average than his competitors while at Winston-Salem, so perhaps another year will produce better results.
It seems likely that Weaver begins the 2022 season with Winston-Salem, although for his overall development, a return to Kannapolis where he can establish more success may actually be better.
2022 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox Prospects
81: Caberea Weaver, CF
82. Layant Tapia, SS
83. Homer Cruz, RHRP
84. Kaleb Roper, RHSP
85. Jerry Burke, RHSP
86. Emerson Talavera, RHRP
87. Isaiah Carranza, RHSP
88. Davis Martin, RHSP
89. Tyler Osik, 1B
90. Samil Polanco, 3B
91. Manuel Veloz, RHRP
92. Pauly Milto, RHRP
93. Fraser Ellard, LHRP
94. Colby Smelley, C
95. Manuel Guariman, C
96. Everhett Hazelwood, RHRP
97. Garrett Schoenle, LHRP
98. Kyle Kubat, LHRP
99. Anderson Comas, RF
100. Jake Elliott, RHRP