Farm Fortnight: Five White Sox affiliates up and running

Last month, when I watched the Birmingham Barons open the season with a weekend sweep of Chattanooga while every other White Sox roster scuffled out of the gate, I'd wondered how long Chris Getz and Paul Janish would be able to preserve the (non-John) Elysian vision unfolding at Regions Field, in which paying fans could see a roster capable of pitching, hitting, running and fielding.

It took about a month before 26-man roster issues contaminated the bubble. The White Sox promoted Bryan Ramos directly from Double-A, and it didn't take long for the Barons to fall into their first five-game losing streak of the season.

Those two developments may be more coincidental -- Birmingham's problems more likely stem from expected individual regression and ordinary concurrent slumping, rather than Ramos being some sort of boba straw that stirs a super-sized drink -- but the most reliable form of minor-league entertainment isn't so bankable right now.

For the time being, Birmingham's descent into normal-team problems are offset by the start of the Arizona Complex League season, so while the quality of performances is a little bit lacking at the moment, the farm system is compensating with quantity.

Charlotte Knights

• Last two series: 1-5 vs. Memphis; 2-4 @Gwinnett
• Record: 15-23
• Next two series: vs. Durham; @Nashville
• Individual stats

The Charlotte-to-Chicago pipeline has slowed down since the start of May. Aside from the promotion of Mike Clevinger after his minor-league tune-ups, any call-ups from Triple-A have been on the fringes, whether swapping out Prelander Berroa for Jared Shuster, or calling up Zach Remillard to back up six positions.

The stability hasn't yet benefited the team, at least when it comes to muscling scores into their favor. They're currently hitting .212/.291/.331 and producing the second-fewest runs in May, which isn't enough to compensate for an improved, middle-of-the-pack 4.56 ERA. At least the final scores are usually reasonable, which couldn't be said for most of last year, but when you hear the stories about the unimpressive state of Triple-A pitching and the Knights still aren't hitting, it doesn't generate a lot of confidence ... with one exception.

Position Players

*Colson Montgomery is that exception. He sounded unconcerned when he talked to James Fegan about his slow start, chalking it up to getting adjusted to new, more professional tendencies of Triple-A pitchers. As I noted in Monday's post about Bryan Ramos, he seems to have a much better understanding of the deal in his second month at the level. He has a 1.037 OPS in May (.265/.419/.618), and only Carlos Pérez is within 300 points of him on the Charlotte roster this month.

*Dominic Fletcher has had moments here and there, and the strikeout rate has calmed down after an early spike, but considering the White Sox looked to him as a solution for right field at the MLB level, you'd like to see a hot streak from him, and soon.

*Zach DeLoach is up to 32 games and 135 plate appearances without a home run after hitting 23 over 528 plate appearances last year. He continues to drag the strikeout rate in his favor -- he's only fanned 10 times in his last 66 plate appearances -- but when it's accompanied by a .053 ISO, it doesn't make him any closer to the majors.

*Oscar Colás hit just .206/.270/.353 over the last two series, only garnering 37 plate appearances. He did not have any multi-hit efforts, he was pulled from a game after getting picked off first base due to a lack of awareness, and then he wasn't in the lineup the following day. Tommy Pham makes all of it moot for the time being.

*Adam Hackenberg looked like he was starting to turn it around when he reached base 16 times during an eight-game hitting streak, but then he closed out the series against Gwinnett by going 0-for-8 with four strikeouts, which knocked his May OPS below .600.

Pitchers

*Nick Nastrini still has plenty of work remaining to repair his 2024 numbers, but he put a good dent in them with a couple of strong starts against Memphis and Gwinnett, allowing just two earned runs and 11 baserunners over 12⅔ innings. The stuff is starting to tick up on Statcast, too.

*Jonathan Cannon had the opposite fortune as Nastrini, as he couldn't complete five innings in either of his two starts since returning to Charlotte. Lefties aren't damaging him the way they did at the MLB level, but they're hitting .306 against him with Charlotte, with more walks (7) than strikeouts (4).

*Prelander Berroa had thrown seven consecutive scoreless innings before the White Sox called him up for a fresh arm in the bullpen. Since returning to Charlotte, he's faced 24 batters, and hasn't struck out a single one, giving up a line of .471/.522/.588 during that stretch. Between DeLoach's unimpressive start and Berroa's manic-depressive performance, the return in the Gregory Santos trade needs all the value the 69th pick can provide.

Birmingham Barons

• Last two series: 4-1 vs. Rocket City; 1-5 @Pensacola
• Record: 20-12
• Next two series: vs. Chattanooga; @Biloxi
• Individual stats

Regression -- or maybe the absence of Ramos -- has come for the Birmingham Barons, who have scored just 35 runs in 11 games over the month of May. It's a sizable drop-off from Ramos to Jason Matthews and Christopher De Guzman to be sure, but it coincided with slumps from the other middle-of-the-order hitters.

Outside of Drew Thorpe's out-of-nowhere two-out dud on Sunday, the Barons rotation has continued to shut down Southern League hitters by and large, but the lack of offensive production has magnified every tough inning, whether thrown by a starter or reliever.

Position Players

*Edgar Quero is in his first rut of the season, lacking both quantity (no multi-hit games) and quantity (no extra-base hits) in May. He's also drawn just two walks over his last 17 games, which is uncharacteristic for his OBP-oriented profile. He shouldn't have as many walks in May as ...

*Wilfred Veras, whose last two series were better than most of his teammates. He hit .262 and slugged .452 over those 10 games, but the .279 is his own contribution to the teamwide struggles.

*Brooks Baldwin could be absolved of any regression, because he couldn't expect to hit .400 the way he did in April. An 0-for-15 slide between series hinted that the party might be over, but he resuscitated his production by reaching base eight times over his most recent four games.

*Terrell Tatum has been doing an excellent job of setting the table, hitting .290/.476/.323 with five steals in five attempts. Now he just needs others to show up to eat. His work has only resulted in five runs scored, but he's maxing out his skill set at the top of the Birmingham order.

*Tim Elko finally notched a couple of multi-hit games after going the first 19 games of the season without one, but everything else is coming up short. His struggles against righties have been particularly pronounced, as he's hitting .247/.263/.366 with 30 strikeouts against two walks over 96 plate appearances.

*Jacob Burke only has three extra-base hits in 99 plate appearances, which is probably why he's not finding it as easy to get on base in Double-A.

*Duke Ellis is a little bit of a bellwether for how fun the Barons offense is. Nobody is better at manufacturing a run by himself when he gets on base, but he has to get on base first (.115/.207/.154 in May).

Pitchers

*Drew Thorpe finally looked human against Southern League hitters by retiring only two of the seven batters he faced during a miserable 34-pitch first inning against Pensacola on Sunday. Just like Baldwin -- a fellow Southern League April honoree -- Thorpe was due for a clunker, and boy, did it clunk.

*Jairo Iriarte continues to be good every other start, as he followed up seven excellent innings against Rocket City on May 1 by walking eight Blue Wahoos over 5⅓ innings on Wednesday. If you're going to watch an Iriarte outing, make it an odd-numbered one.

*Jake Eder is steadier than he's ever been during his time in the White Sox organization. That's not saying much, but between his improvement and Jake Burger's woes in Miami, the trade no longer looks absurd. Now he just needs to work on his approach to righties, who are hitting .328/.408/.373 against him.

*Ky Bush has reverse splits, so if you combined him with Eder, you'd have one of the top pitching prospects in baseball ... or somebody who'd be pitching in the Frontier League. As it stands, Bush is doing a fine job on his own, with two more strong outings over the last two series. After allowing 16 homers over 71⅔ Double-A innings last year, he's allowed just one so far this season.

*Mason Adams has allowed more homers than the rest of the Birmingham rotation combined, but when you see that he boasts the staff's best walk and strikeout totals, it's forgiveable. Adams has also plunked as many batters as he's walked, which made me look up those HBPs to see how many came on three-ball counts. The answer is zero, because Adams is a man of honor.

Winston-Salem Dash

• Last two series: 2-4 @Greensboro; 4-2 vs. Asheville
• Record: 15-18
• Next two series: @Greenville; vs. Bowling Green
• Individual stats

After a rough start to the season, the Winston-Salem Dash lineup is starting to coalesce. They've scored 65 runs in 11 games in May, the second-highest total in the South Atlantic League, and they're also running only behind Greensboro in homers and OPS.

It hasn't amounted to anything but a 6-6 record over their last 12 games because their pitching staff is among the league's worst, but most of the implosions have been contained within the bullpen, and A-ball bullpens are kind of always like that. As the promotion of Eric Adler shows, the successful, reliable relievers typically don't spend all that much time in one spot.

Position Players

*Jacob Gonzalez might be the most enjoyable prospect to follow on an everyday basis, at least relative to preseason concerns. He's hitting .350/.435/.575 with five walks and just three strikeouts over his last 46 plate appearances, punctuated by a 4-for-4, two-homer game on Wednesday. You could say this is what he should be doing in High-A, but there was a time where Low-A success eluded him, so it's all good.

*Samuel Zavala seems like the Zach DeLoach of the Winston-Salem Dash, in the sense that he's addressing the strikeout concerns that plagued him at the same level the previous season, but he's not doing much of anything else. The overall production is going in the wrong direction (.114/.205/.200 in May), but the eight strikeouts in 39 plate appearances continues to represent improvement on that one front.

*DJ Gladney is starting to get it going, and the lower level box scores are always more lively when he's on a heater. He's hitting .314/.368/.600 in May, and he's the team leader in extra-base hits despite the problems with contact over the first month. When he connects, it's usually loud.

*Wes Kath continues to carry a too-high 32.7 percent strikeout rate, but he's also earning his share of walks for all the deep counts he sees. He also has the team's highest walk rate at 13.6 percent.

*Loidel Chapelli was able to snap a streak of 14 consecutive games with a strikeout. In fact, he posted four different K-less games over the two series against Greensboro and Asheville, which helps address his biggest year-to-year problem.

*Calvin Harris started slowly after joining the team at the end of the month, but he finished the fortnight with a five-game hitting streak, and a loaded one at that. He went 7-for-17 with two doubles, a homer and four walks, which is good for a 1.230 OPS.

Pitchers

*Noah Schultz is back to pumping strikes. He's issued just one walk over his last three outings spanning 11⅓ innings. He occasionally pays for that control, but aside from his start against Greensboro two Saturdays ago, that efficiency has allowed him to throw four innings each and every time.

*Peyton Pallette notched his first successful start of the season, which was my main point of emphasis from the last installment of this series. He struck out seven Greensboro Grasshoppers over five scoreless innings, as they couldn't handle his curveball. Then he struggled over three innings against Asheville, so his next task will be throwing two successful starts consecutively.

*Tanner McDougal is learning the difference between control and command. He had one of his better strike-throwing days against Greensboro two starts ago, but gave up a pair of homers over six innings while only getting six whiffs on 87 pitches. His next time out against Asheville, he walked four batters over five innings, but he was able to pitch five innings of one-run ball because he only allowed three singles. He's thrown at least five innings in his last three starts, so there's consistency amid the inconsistency.

*Juan Carela threw his third and fourth scoreless outings of the season, but after some early issues with walks, these outings are lasting a little longer. He threw 10 innings without allowing a run, allowing just three hits and three walks while striking out 11.

*Tyler Schweitzer joined McDougal in shaking off a thumping from Greensboro (seven runs, two homers over 4⅔ innings) with six innings of one-run ball against Asheville. He good outings have been good, but he's had problems righting the ship on his off days.

*Shane Murphy is crowded out of Winston-Salem's six-man rotation, but he's been thriving in long-relief outings, once after Schultz and twice after Pallette. It'll probably take a vacancy in the Birmingham rotation in order for him to find a gap, especially with Riley Gowens, the 24-year-old righty acquired in the Aaron Bummer trade, throwing pretty well in his first crack at High-A.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

• Last two series: 2-4 @Lynchburg; 3-3 vs. Delmarva
• Record: 16-16
• Next two series: vs. Fayetteville; @Augusta
• Individual stats

After hitting just six homers over their first 20 games, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers have started launching pitches out of the park, running second in the Carolina League with nine homers over 11 games in May. They're also running second in the league in runs scored thanks to the league's best OBP in May. When you see the board immediately below this paragraph, that'll be easier to understand.

Position Players

*Ronny Hernandez started his month with a 1-for-19 slump before recovering with a pair of two-hit games out of his last three. The strike-zone control remained strong, but in terms of power, he still looks 19.

*Rikuu Nishida spent the last two weeks raising his specific brand of hell, reaching base 25 times over 11 games. He hit five doubles and generated other extra bases with six steals, resulting in a whopping 15 runs at the top of the Kannapolis order.

*Eddie Park is looking more like Eddie Yost against low-A pitching, with 17 walks in 15 games. He got a late start to the season, but among all the position players who are thriving at their current levels, Park's lines look the most out of place.

Pitchers

*Seth Keener's transition from college relief to professional starting continues apace, including his first walk-less outing of the season with six innings of two-run ball against Delmarva. He'd allowed at least two walks -- and usually three, four or five free bases -- in each of his first five starts.

*Lucas Gordon has twice flirted with no-hit stuff. He opened the season with five hitless against Charleston, and in his most recent start, he allowed just a solo homer over six innings against Delmarva. That one resulted in his first win of the season.

*Aldrin Batista turned 21 in between his two most recent outings, and he's completed at least five innings every time out.

*Jake Peppers gave up a pair of homers in a tough five innings against Delmarva on Wednesday, which is something he should avoid doing as long as he's walking as many guys as he is.

ACL White Sox

• Record: 2-4
• Individual stats

The ACL season started a month earlier than usual because Major League Baseball is now required to pay players for participating in extended spring training, so they're turning the May schedule into games that count. With only six games in the books for players who are rehabbing or aren't able to drink legally in the United States, there isn't a whole lot to report yet.

Position Players

With only five or six games to point to, the numbers haven't really had time to trend in one direction or another, but Mogollon and Wolkow's ugly strikeout totals were heavily concentrated in their first few games.

Pitchers

The big news is Taylor making his professional debut after missing all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. The White Sox's second-round pick out of LSU was able to show bat-missing ability his first time out, so if he can replicate that once or twice more, White Sox fans should be able to catch one of his games at a full-season affiliate.

White Sox Minor Keys: May 13, 2024

ACL Rangers 12, ACL White Sox 9 (10 innings)

• Javier Mogollon singled, walked twice, struck out twice and stole a base.
• George Wolkow went 2-for-4 with a double, walk and strikeout.
• Adrian Gil walked twice and struck out thrice.
• Angelo Hernandez was 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.
• Stiven Flores singled and struck out four times.
• Christian Oppor: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 WP