Farm Fortnight: Homestretch for White Sox farm system

There's less than a month remaining on the minor league calendar, and the five White Sox affiliates don't have much to play for, at least as units. Birmingham and Kannapolis have already locked in playoff appearances by dint of their first-half titles, and Charlotte and Winston-Salem are 7½ and 8½ games out of first place in their divisions. (The Dominican Summer League season ends today, and the DSL White Sox were eliminated long ago.)

Still, plenty of work remains on the individual front, whether it's upper-level prospects angling for September consideration, or lower-level prospects trying to not let recent draft picks pass them by.

Charlotte Knights

• Last two series: 2-4 @Louisville; 3-3 vs. Toledo
• Record: 54-63 (21-22 in second half)
• Next two series: @Memphis, vs. Nashville
• Individual stats

Matt Foster was recalled to Chicago to replace Dominic Leone, and then sent back to Charlotte to make room for Enyel De Los Santos. Life for a White Sox reliever can be alternately dispiriting and exciting, because opportunities can be both given and taken on a day-to-day basis.

The White Sox will have pitchers to consider when rosters expand in September. Brian Bannister likes the idea of using starting pitchers in the bullpen, which could accommodate the inconsistencies of Nick Nastrini, Jake Eder and Sean Burke. But whether it's Foster, Prelander Berroa or Sammy Peralta on the 40-man roster, or Trey McGough or the recently promoted Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa off of it, there are a whole host of present-day relievers that should keep a go-bag packed just in case.

Position Players

*Colson Montgomery had his first multi-hit game of the month against Toledo on Friday, but he surrounded it with a pair of 0-for-4 showings. The .195/.327/.366 shows over the last two series shows that the hit tool is holding him back. One weird note: His homer against Louisville on Aug. 6 was his 13th of the season, and eight of them have come on the road, so he's not making particularly good use of the environment.

*Bryan Ramos hit .225/.367/.400 the last two weeks, albeit with a strikeout rate that's stayed below 20 percent since the start of July. He's had worse stretches, and coincidentally, his line looks like what Montgomery's might with 30 points of batting average.

*Edgar Quero continued his hot hitting into the first four games of the Louisville series, over which he went 8-for-18 with a homer, bookended by a pair of three-hit games. He then went 0-for-4 in the next two games, and missed the final five games of the Toledo series with a back injury that put him on the 7-day injured list.

*Tim Elko ran his hitting streak to 13 games before going 0-for-8 with a walk and five strikeouts over the final two games of the Toledo series. He's hitting .293/.346/.547 over his 18 games in Triple-A, but keep an eye on the K rate. He's kept it in check all year, but he's struck out 11 times over his last 24 plate appearances, and we'll have to see if that's just his natural volatility or the International League adjusting to him.

*Zach DeLoach is going to finish well, well, well short of the 23 homers he hit for Triple-A Tacoma last season, but he's been productive around the lack of pop. He hit .293/.408/.488 while playing 11 of the 12 games over the last two weeks, while playing a fair amount of center field, and that's more or less been his output since the start of July.

*Oscar Colás opened this period struggling with what turned out to be a calf issue. After getting 1½ games off, he returned to the lineup and started a seven-game hitting streak, including a couple of homers.

Pitchers

*Nick Nastrini put together one of his most aesthetically pleasing starts of the year with six innings of one-run, two-walk ball against Toledo on Tuesday, but his chance at showing a mechanical/mental breakthrough was stunted when he was ejected arguing a call at second base in the third inning on Sunday. He hadn't walked any of the 11 batters he'd faced before getting the heave-ho, so there's that.

*Sean Burke is also doing a better job at throwing strikes of late, but he's also throwing a lot of pitches. He totaled just 12 innings over his last three starts, averaging more than 20 pitches per frame, which takes some of the juice out of the 22 strikeouts.

*Jake Eder also has inefficiency issues, but they tend to manifest in crooked-number innings where he struggles to right the ship. He's managed to drag his Triple-A ERA back into the single digits after a rough Charlotte debut, but it's been a very gradual process.

*Mason Adams hadn't pitched fewer than five innings or walked more than two batters in any of his 18 games with Birmingham, which made his three innings (and one batter) and five walks rather jarring to see in the box score of his Triple-A debut. He was pulled from the game after a visit with the trainer and was placed on the 7-day injured list, but he's still with the Knights and throwing on the side.

Birmingham Barons

• Last two series: 4-2 @Rocket City; 4-2 vs. Tennessee
• Record: 60-54 (19-26 in second half)
• Next two series: vs. Biloxi; @Chattanooga
• Individual stats

The Birmingham offense is off life support. Over the last two weeks, the Barons are only behind Montgomery in OPS (.720) and runs (58), and they parlayed that into a pair of consecutive series victories to keep their season record over .500 with a little bit of breathing room.

If there's a catch, it's that they've been boosted by the contributions of Adam Hackenberg, as well as Canaan Smith-Njigba and Nick Podkul, recent signings who are 25 and 27 years old. At least the most productive Baron is a prospect who's finally getting going after a lengthy dormant period.

Position Players

*Jacob Gonzalez is not that prospect. He hasn't homered in his last 41 games, and is hitting .184/.220/.227 with seven doubles and nearly as many strikeouts (28) as hits (30) over that time. It was a little bit better over the last two weeks, as he went 11-for-47 with three walks and just six strikeouts over 12 games, but that's still a .551 OPS.

*Wilfred Veras is the guy finally having a hot stretch, posting an 11-game hitting streak over the two series before the Smokies held him to an 0-for-4 performance on Sunday. Even then, he managed to draw a walk, giving him seven over the last two series. He hit .340/.436/.596 with three homers, ending his own 21-game dinger drought in the process.

*Terrell Tatum homered in consecutive games -- one to close out the Rocket City series, and one to open the Tennessee set. He's regained his OBP-oriented ways, hitting .290/.389/.484 over his last 10 games, although it's only produced one stolen-base attempt this month.

*DJ Gladney struggled with a lat issue during his time with Winston-Salem, and he's battling another injury that cost him the final five games of the Tennessee series. While he made a cameo appearance in Project Birmingham a couple years ago, his proper Double-A debut coudln't have started any better, with seven hits, two homers and two walks over his first four games. A pair of 0-fers later, he's back on the IL.

Pitchers

*Jairo Iriarte continues to pile up quality starts, running his streak to four after going six innings once against Rocket City, and twice against Tennessee. He has a 1.64 ERA since the All-Star break, so while his control remains a work in progress, the rest of his profile is holding up well as he ventures well into triple-digit innings for the first time in his career.

*Noah Schultz, conversely, hasn't been able to finish four innings in any of his last four starts, as he's issued eight walks and plunked four batters over those 14 innings. He's only allowed one run during that stretch, lowering his Birmingham ERA to 1.59 over 45⅓ innings, so he continues to be impossible for Double-A hitters to KO no matter what kind of trouble he makes for himself.

*Tyler Schweitzer continues his streak of every-other-start effectiveness, following up a quality start and win against Rocket City with four runs and 10 baserunners over four innings against Tennessee. He's one start away from amassing a career-high workload.

*Juan Carela received a promotion right after I wondered whether the Sox would really have him pitch a full season in High-A for the second consecutive year. Such is the power of Farm Fortnight. He was limited to three innings and 48 pitches in his Double-A debut, but he then delivered six shutout innings against Tennessee.

Winston-Salem Dash

• Last two series: 4-2 vs. Greenville; 2-4 @Jersey Shore
• Record: 54-60 (23-25 in second half)
• Next two series: @Aberdeen; vs. Brooklyn
• Individual stats

Outside of Noah Schultz's Saturday starts to open the season, the Dash really haven't had a star attraction all year. Nobody has played themselves up to that level, and Grant Taylor's season-ending lat injury halted what appeared to be a rapid ascent. The Dash's fortunes will change on Saturday, when first-round pick Hagen Smith makes his professional debut for the Dash in Aberdeen.

Otherwise, it's been business as usual, with the .500ish record reflecting the season-long trend of minor gains here offset by slumps elsewhere.

Position Players

*Samuel Zavala raised his BABIP from .231 to .241 after the kind of normal, decent week that's eluded him for most of this season. He went 8-for-31 with a homer, double and seven walks over 38 plate appearances, good for a .258/.395/.387 line, and a .350 BABIP. Sox farm director Paul Janish recently told James that adding strength is Zavala's big offseason to-do.

*Rikuu Nishida shows no signs of slowing down, as he's hitting .333/.460/.333 over 15 games since being promoted to High-A. It'd be nice to see an extra-base hit somewhere down the line, but don't let cloud your view of good, clean minor-league entertainment.

*Wes Kath hit a very rough patch during the Jersey Shore series, going 0-for-15 with nine strikeouts over his final four games versus the BlueClaws. It'd been mostly smooth sailing since the start of July, so let's see how the fresh series treats him.

*Eddie Park is hitting just .156/.250/.188 over 36 plate appearances in August, dragging his Winston-Salem slugging percentage below .300. If you see a different name in his slot next time around, this'll be the reason.

*William Bergolla hit .308/.426/.359 in his first two full series in the White Sox organization, with five walks and three HBPs against four strikeouts, and seven steals in 12 games. He doesn't turn 20 until after the season.

*Casey Saucke, the White Sox's fourth-round pick in the 2024 but third-round in terms of signing bonus, has received the most ambitious initial assignment of the draft class thus far.

Pitchers

*Peyton Pallette has strung together seven consecutive scoreless appearances in the Winston-Salem bullpen, which is actually saying something since he's thrown at least two innings each time. His line since moving to relief at the start of July: 23.2 IP, 11 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 35 K, 0.76 ERA, .390 OPS against. It sounds like he'll ride out the rest of the season there, after which the team will weigh trying to apply any lessons learned to a return to the rotation, or just letting him take high-leverage relief as far as his arsenal will allow.

*Lucas Gordon is getting properly tested against High-A hitters. He's issued 17 walks against 23 strikeouts over 26⅔ innings since getting bumped up to Winston-Salem. He's been decent in the run-prevention department, but he'll want to throw more than 57 percent of his pitches for strikes.

*Aldrin Batista has made a seamless transition to High-A, allowing just one run on eight hits and two walks over nine innings while striking out 15.

*Tommy Vail faced only two batters against Jersey Shore on Sunday before leaving with a trainer, so we'll have to see whether his out-of-nowhere success will be allowed to continue.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

• Last two series: 2-4 @Columbia; 2-4 vs. Charleston
• Record: 60-54 (19-29 in second half)
• Next two series: @Fayetteville; vs. Fredericksburg
• Individual stats

The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers has turned over the most this month, as the Kannapolis lineup has rotated four recent draft picks in and out of the mix, and a wave of pitchers will join the Cannon Ballers staff this week, most notably Tennessee swingman Aaron Combs and Alabama flame-thrower Pierce George.

Pair it with the teenage talent that's been around all season, and plenty of players should be able to take advantage of the extra Carolina League playoff games at the end of the season.

Position Players

*Ronny Hernandez came into this season having played 80 professional games total, and now he's up to 84. A 4-for-4, three-double night on Thursday against Charleston propped up what was otherwise a quiet past two series, but again, this is all good for a 19-year-old. The young Venezuelan even powered through a short English-language interview this weekend, where he informed that catcher became his position after a youth coach labeled him "un gordito."

*George Wolkow, like Wilfred Veras, had a homerless stretch extend to 21 games before blasting out of it with homers in consecutive games. It was a little bit quiet afterwards, but he's still sustaining a .246/.352/.450 line over 60 games at Kannapolis as an 18-year-old, with a sense of how to correct course when it seems like his strikeout rate is going to undermine everything.

*Ryan Burrowes enters a fresh week with a nine-game hitting streak. It's not a particularly impressive one (10-for-36, three doubles, one walk, nine strikeouts), but he's hitting .265/.319/.361 since coming back from an injury in mid-July, which is pretty impressive since James wore him out as a translator for his Kannapolis teammates. Burrowes has significantly lowered his hands in his setup of recent, with the goal of reducing the length of his load, so his late-season numbers bear watching.

*Jeral Perez would be tied for second in the White Sox farm system in doubles behind Caden Connor's 28, and he's picked up the pace since the trade. He's 15-for-60 since the trade, but eight of those hits are doubles, and he added his first homer and triple over the series against Charleston.

*As for the draft picks, fifth-round pick Sam Antonacci is showing a knack for running deep counts, which is consistent with his Coastal Carolina career, even if the numbers aren't yet reflecting it. T.J. McCants, selected out of Alabama in the 16th round, is the only one who is really hitting the ground running in trackable games on either level.

Pitchers

*Jake Peppers picked up a pair of wins with effective five-inning outings against Columbia and Charleston, over which he issued just one free pass. That continues a stretch of markedly improved control since the All-Star break. He's walked just three of his last 76 batters (3.9 percent), as opposed to the 13.4 percent walk rate over the 63 innings that preceded it.

*Tanner McDougal is trying to make the best of a suboptimal situation after being demoted to Kannapolis. He's allowing just a .265 slugging percentage over 18 innings with the Cannon Ballers, but it's still not coming together on a start-to-start basis.

DSL White Sox

• Record: 20-33
• Individual stats

Depending on what time you read this, the Dominican Summer League season may already be over for the White Sox's affiliate, as it finished out of the playoff picture. There will be an affiliate season recap between now and the next Farm Fortnight, so we'll save the greater takeaways until then.

Position Players

The bat-to-ball work for Eduardo Herrera didn't improve any, but a spate of walks resulted in a truly DSL-tacular line over his last eight games (.150/.414/.200). Jurdrick Profar went from an 0-for-14 slump to a five-game hitting streak, over which he went 10-for-17. Positive regression is nice to see for once.

Pitchers

Yhoiker Fajardo continues to be the most impressive DSL White Sox pitcher by far, while Jeziel Boukhoudt has been injured and Alexandre Valdeviezo lost his ability to hold an 0.00 ERA despite awful peripherals.