We conclude our tour of the White Sox farm system with the Charlotte Knights, who were a bit of a baseball-playing contradiction over the course of the 2021 season. They finished in the cellar of the Triple-A East at 47-81, yet the were able to produce a whole lot of players who contributed to the White Sox for various parts of the season, including a few players who didn't merit consideration beforehand.
Few of those players were pitchers, and that's where it went wrong. The Knights allowed a Triple-A East-worst 5.61 runs per game, and while that's partially attributable to playing half their schedule in the league's most severe hitters' park, they also saw injuries and disappointing performances, which is how Mike Wright and Reynaldo López were the only guys the White Sox could turn to during the second half of the season.
The offensive numbers weren't great, either, but at least they could sometimes point to promotions. Gavin Sheets finished the season in Chicago and had a couple of postseason highlights, and the White Sox borrowed a number of other players over the course of the season. But they also finished dead last in walks and OBP while third in strikeouts, so that excuse only goes so far.
| Hitters | Age | R/G | BB% | K% | AVG/OBP/SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 27.0 | 4.57 | 7.7 | 26.5 | .247/.311/.428 |
| League | 26.4 | 4.76 | 10.1 | 24.1 | .246/.331/.411 |
In a bit of positive news for the pitching staff, six other teams in the 20-team league allowed more homers than Charlotte pitchers. The Knights actually won the home-run battle 174-163, which makes the -133 run differential all the more mind-boggling.
| Pitchers | Age | R/G | BB% | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 27.3 | 5.61 | 10.9 | 25.3 |
| League | 27.0 | 4.76 | 10.1 | 24.1 |
Pitchers
Jimmy Lambert: Lambert pitched well enough at times in Charlotte to warrant a few promotions to Chicago. He made four appearances and threw 13 innings for the White Sox. While he posted a 6.23 ERA, he also picked up his first career win. The White Sox never asked too much of him, and neither did the Knights, as he threw just 64⅓ innings over 19 starts. The 30.5 percent strikeout rate kept the White Sox interested, but the inability to work more than four innings limited his utility, and made it hard to put a dent in an ERA that hovered around 5.00 for most of the year before settling in at 4.76. Still, at least he got some use out of his 2021, which wasn't a given after losing nearly all of his 2020 to a forearm injury not too far removed from Tommy John surgery.
Jonathan Stiever: The same can't be said for Stiever, who failed to retire any of the four batters he faced in his only appearance for the White Sox. He entered in relief of Michael Kopech in the sixth inning with an 8-1 lead on April 25, theoretically stretched out enough to cover a four-inning save. Instead, he gave up hits to each of the four batters he faced, three of them scored, and he finished the season with an infinite ERA. With Charlotte, he posted a 5.84 ERA over 17 starts and 74 innings. His strike-throwing was punished for 80 hits and 13 homers, even around 88 strikeouts. His season ended with lat surgery, and while he'll be ready for spring training, he'll have to distinguish himself all over again.
Kade McClure: There aren't many Sox pitching prospects who thrived in 2021, but McClure is one of the lucky few. He picked up where he left off after the lost 2020 season with a sturdy 3.82 ERA over 15 games with Birmingham. Remove one disastrous outing, in which he allowed nine runs over the course of four outs, and that ERA drops to 2.69. That's more representative of his typical outing, as he allowed one or zero runs in nine outings. Charlotte was a rude awakening, as he posted a 6.81 ERA over nine starts, but he did have a stretch of three strong outings amid a mess elsewhere. There's a chance he's bumping his head against his ceiling, but that could merely because he stands 6'7", and he just needs some time to adjust to the dramatically different environment.
Bennett Sousa: He made his pro debut at 23 after signing as a senior out of Virginia in the 10th round of the 2018 draft. That's made him old for every level, but he's pitched well just about everywhere he's been, and the Sox have given him a lot of looks. This year, the lefty struck out 71 batters against 20 walks over 47⅓ innings split between Birmingham and Charlotte, posting a 3.61 ERA for the season. The control improved over the course of the year, to the point that he issued only five walks over 21 appearances with the Knights while striking out 33.
Position players
Jake Burger: The season's most heartwarming story at the minor-league level, Burger emerged from three lost seasons to give the big-league club a boost over 15 games in the middle of the summer. He hit .263/.333/.474 and crossed off plenty of MLB firsts, which few expected him to do in 2021. Considering his most advanced standard pro experience was 200 so-so plate appearances for Kannapolis in 2017, his .274/.332/.513 line with Charlotte was 340 plate appearances well spent. He wore down toward the end of the season due in large part to a bone bruise, which explains why he's better off resting instead of going after fall ball. He'll turn 26 next April and still plays a suspect third base, but with his legs supporting him the whole year, you could either see defensive improvement for 2022, or an increased focus on playing elsewhere to mask deficiencies at one position.
Romy González: And then you have the season's most surprising story, as González emerged from 18th-round obscurity and a sub-.700 OPS in Kannapolis in 2019 to earn the White Sox's Minor League Player of the Year honors from Baseball America. Over 404 plate appearances split between Birmingham and Charlotte, González hit .283/.364/.532 with 24 homers and 24 steals while playing a credible shortstop. Strikeouts are a problem (28.2 percent K rate), but they tend to show up in clumps, which is why he was able to hit for sufficient average around them. The move to Charlotte gave his numbers a nitro boost (.370/.417/.704), and he parlayed that into an unexpected cup of coffee with the White Sox in September. He'll be in the mix for a utility job next year.
Micker Adolfo: Adolfo played 100 games for just the second time in his seven-year career, and provided plenty of power, hitting .245/.311/.520 with 25 homers, 24 doubles and a triple between Birmingham and Charlotte. His performance was remarkably steady, as any surges or slumps were limited in nature. Perhaps the Sox giving him a day off during each series helped buoy him. There's a concern that the swing-and-miss in his game (34.1 percent) will make MLB success hard to come by, but he's earned his shot. Unfortunately, it may have to come with another club, because Adolfo is out of options, and it's difficult to see how the White Sox could carry him on the roster in productive way.
Carlos Pérez: Pérez's combination of contact and catching abilities gave him a high floor for the position, but the absence of power made it hard to capitalize on the lack of strikeouts. He finally figured out how to make outfielders turn around this year. The guy who'd topped out at three homers hit 13 over 111 games this year, finally giving him the ISO to make him playable at higher levels (.258/.309/.410). He didn't have to sacrifice too much of his bat-to-ball abilities. He set a career high in strikeouts ... with 46. He didn't seem to suffer from a heavy workload with the Barons, playing in 107 games at Double-A despite catching 88 of them (he DH'd 11 times and made nine starts at first). He allowed just three passed balls and gunned down 42 percent of baserunners, so he has the makings of a decent third catcher, with room for more if he can improve his framing. Get to work, Jerry Narron.
Blake Rutherford: Is this his stop? Rutherford hit .250/.286/.404 despite playing half his games in Charlotte. He did set career highs in homers (11) and doubles (30), but he also drew just 21 walks while striking out 114 times. He finally got his ground-ball rate below 50 percent (45.4), but it doesn't seem like that contact is going pull side. He could stay on the 40-man roster simply because the White Sox will see at least five come off it due to free agency, with other non-tenders possible, but he isn't making his own case for it.
2021 WHITE SOX AFFILIATE REVIEWS
Birmingham Barons
The Birmingham Barons were the lone bastion of reliable, respectable play for any stretch of the 2021 season among White Sox affiliates.
Winston-Salem Dash
While the struggles of the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers were a lot more severe, the Winston-Salem Dash fared only three wins better by the time the seasons were settled. They went 43-76, good for the worst record in the High-A East despite an older roster on both sides of the ball.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
The Cannon Ballers opened the season with a number of ambitious assignments for prep players, but it turns out they really could've used a stint in Great Falls.
ACL White Sox
Most players who opened the season with the ACL White Sox stayed put. There were some success stories amid the struggles, which were pronounced at the plate.
DSL White Sox
The DSL White Sox finished 26-33 while featuring a roster that was older than the league average on both sides of the ball. That said, one of the older pitchers, one Norge Carlos Vera, looks like the system's most promising pitching prospect, period.
(Photo by Laura Wolff / Charlotte Knights)
