The White Sox will hold an MLB Draft party for fans before their 1:10 p.m. game Saturday against the Athletics, but the South Siders still don’t know whom the virtual guest of honor will be.
The Sox will select first when the draft opens at noon Central time in Philadelphia as a part of All-Star festivities. MLB said Friday no amateur players are scheduled to attend the draft.
Fans will be able to enter Rate Field at 11:40 a.m.
There remains no slam-dunk No. 1 pick, but the Sox probably will select one of three players: UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson or Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey.
Director of amateur scouting Mike Shirley told reporters Wednesday the Sox still aren’t certain which player they would take.
The Sox didn’t give any new clues Friday, with most of the pregame discussion centering on the return of slugger Munetaka Murakami six weeks after he suffered a Grade 2 strain of his right hamstring while running to first base in a game against the Tigers.
The scuttlebutt is that the pick might come down to Cholowsky and Emerson.
‘‘The Cholowsky-Emerson conversation, the Vahn Lackey conversation, these are real, they are happening,’’ Shirley said. ‘‘You have a catcher and the continuation of these shortstops that continue to define the game across the league. We are searching for this. We’re doing our very absolute best up to the minute to make the best choice.’’
Cholowsky, 21, is a 6-2 right-handed hitter and was the Big Ten Player of the Year for a second consecutive season. He hit .320 with 21 home runs, 60 RBI and 73 runs scored while starting all 60 of UCLA’s games at shortstop.
Emerson, 18, is 6-3 and 185 pounds and bats left-handed. He played his senior high school season at Fort Worth Christian High School, where he slashed .532/.648/1.013 with seven homers, 50 RBI and 31 stolen bases.
Lackey, 21, is a 6-2, 215-pound right-handed hitter who reportedly didn’t receive any Division I offers until his senior year of high school. In his junior season at Georgia Tech, Lackey batted .397 with a 1.291 OPS, 20 homers and 78 RBI in 61 games. He also played third base.
The Sox already are headed in a much better direction after three consecutive seasons with more than 100 losses.
‘‘I don’t wanna lose the way we lost to get here; that was painful,’’ Shirley said. ‘‘But how can you not be excited to have the No. 1 pick and with the direction of the club?’’
Another Thome on the way?
Landon Thome, the 18-year-old son of Hall of Famer and former Sox slugger Jim Thome, will be drafted Saturday.
Landon, an infielder who played at Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park, is ranked as the 34th overall prospect by MILB.com. The 6-foot, 177-pounder is committed to Florida State for next season.
‘‘All the hard work, which, at the end of the day, they do it all,’’ the elder Thome told MLB Network. ‘‘As a dad, you sit back [and] watch the journey.’’
HR derby replacement
Former White Sox center fielder Brian Anderson will replace Alexei Ramirez in the Alumni Home Run Derby on Saturday. Ramirez will not be able to attend.