Farm Fortnight: White Sox affiliates winding down 2025 seasons

The arrival of September signals the gradual conclusion to the minor league baseball season. Kannapolis and Winston-Salem play their final series of the season this week, while Birmingham's regular season carries through Sept. 14 (although the Barons should have at least a couple more postseason games after that). The Charlotte Knights play all the way through a doubleheader on Saturday, Sept. 20, since the Carolina Panthers need the parking lots that Sunday.

For those tracking wins and losses, the entire farm system has a record of 310-313. The White Sox system hasn't finished .500 or better since 2011, when they went 386-386. Their last winning record occurred two years earlier, when a Daniel Hudson-led farm system finished 425-346. While the Barons are the only team in position to lock down a postseason spot, all the teams have something to play for.

On an individual level, let's look at our...

Fortnight's Finest

Position player: Caleb Bonemer. Bonemer posted his best month of a breakout season in August, hitting .369/.475/.708. It was powered by a furious finish, as Bonemer went 14-for-40 with four homers, a triple and five doubles. The .350/.422/.825 line would be sufficient on its own, but the back half of that production came at a new level, so that counts as extra credit. The White Sox promoted Bonemer to Winston-Salem, where he wrapped up his first week as a Dash with the first multi-homer game of his professional career.

Pitcher: Christian Oppor. Nearly the entire Birmingham rotation merits consideration, but let's give the nod to Oppor, who is steaming to the finish despite a workload that's easily the most substantial of his career. He turned in three strong outings, combining for a line of 13 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 18 K. He's more than doubled his innings total from 2024, and he looks like he could keep going.

As for my schedule, my minor league season probably wrapped up with the Charlotte Knights visiting Nashville for the second time in two months, although I'm not counting out one more visit to Birmingham if the Southern League's postseason schedule aligns with mine.

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Charlotte Knights

• Last two series: 2-4 @Norfolk; 2-4 @Nashville
• Record: 59-72 (23-31 in second half)
• Next two series: vs. Jacksonville, @Omaha
• Individual stats

For most of the year, the Charlotte Knights were capable of scoring runs, but had a difficult time preventing them thanks to a threadbare rotation. The inverse is now true: the return of Noah Schultz, along with the demotions of Jonathan Cannon and Sean Burke and the acquisition of Duncan Davitt, gives Sergio Santos a credible starter to pencil in nearly every night. But now the lineup card is difficult to fill out, at least with prospects who drive the conversation. With Tim Elko and Bryan Ramos called up to Chicago, the lineup is basically Jacob Gonzalez and eight guys who were DFA'd.

Speaking of which...

Position Players

*Jacob Gonzalez started the fortnight slow and ended it slow. As for the middle? There were a couple of doubles, but he otherwise hit .188/.289/.250 over the last two series, so his Charlotte OPS has dipped below .700 (.209/.348/.341).

Pitchers

*Noah Schultz is ramping back up after missing six weeks, and with a healthy knee, he's at least showing a much stronger grip on the zone. His combined line -- 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K -- includes a 67 percent strike rate.

*Jairo Iriarte has lost the concept of the strike zone, as he's walked seven batters over his last three appearances spanning just two innings. That should pretty much take him out of consideration for a September call-up.

*Peyton Pallette is keeping himself in play for an audition, although he'd only worked a clean inning in one of his previous 16 appearances before finishing the Nashville series with one of the tidiest possible frame: three outs on six pitches, all strikes.

*Duncan Davitt followed up a strong start against Norfolk -- 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K -- with a decent outing in Nashville, albeit one with more walks. I'll have a story about him in the coming days.

*Ben Peoples issued four walks over four innings across four appearances split between Nashville and Norfolk, which isn't good when he only struck out one of the 20 batters he faced.

Birmingham Barons

• Last two series: 4-2 vs. Rocket City; 2-4 vs. Knoxville
• Record: 75-51 (37-20 in second half)
• Next two series: @Chattanooga, vs. Biloxi
• Individual stats

The Birmingham Barons hadn't lost a series since the first week of July, so it was only a matter of time until regression caught up to them. Still, they managed to finish with a .500 record for the fortnight, and they still hold an 8½-game lead over Chattanooga and Knoxville in the Southern League North, with just 12 games to play. Their magic number is 4, and they can eliminate the Lookouts with two wins.

The Barons are fully stocked with the roster to which they've grown accustomed, as Ryan Galanie and Rikuu Nishida returned from the injured list, and their rotation is legally prohibited from allowing runs in bulk. Barring a series of promotions that shakes up the order, they'll be geared up to defend their title.

Position Players

*Braden Montgomery stopped doubling every day, but even a slight slowdown in this department didn't him from posting a very fine August. He hit .323/.404/.490 the past month, and with his some of his best strikeout-avoiding of the season (22.9 percent K rate).

*Sam Antonacci showed the value of his willingness to take one for the team. He hit just .256 with one double over his last 12 games, but with five HBPs supported the five walks he drew and boosted his OBP, which also allowed him to go 7-for-7 on the basepaths. He also just got a new shipment of torpedo bats, for what it’s worth.

*Wilfred Veras finished August with some of his best work of the season, hitting .311/.360/.422 with a triple and three doubles over 50 plate appearances. But between the power-suppressing environment in the Southern League and the fact that Veras is up to 279 games played at Double-A, it's hard to detect progress from somebody making a very limited living.

*DJ Gladney finished the month going hitless over his last 14 at-bats and 3-for-28 over his last eight games, which reduced his August (.584 OPS) to the level of his season overall (.592).

*William Bergolla went the entire month of August without an extra-base hit, and he's up to 38 consecutive games overall. The diminishing returns are starting to show, as he hit just .242/.308/.242 over the last month, but it could just be a BABIP-related downturn. He bounced back from a similar-looking May, after all.

*Rikuu Nishida returned from his injury halfway through the Rocket City series, and came back with some unforeseen pop. He went just 5-for-25, but three of those hits went for extra bases, including two triples. That's how he finished the month slugging .404. That, and being limited to 15 games, probably.

*Ryan Galanie is back from the injured list after missing three weeks. He started at DH for the final game of the Knoxville series and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

Pitchers

*Hagen Smith still hasn't posted consecutive strong outings, but two out of three ain't bad. He sandwiched an unraveling against Rocket City on Aug. 24 with two of his best starts of the year, throwing five strong innings against the Trash Pandas on Aug. 19, and then doing it again against Knoxville on Saturday.

*Riley Gowens has allowed just one run and 11 baserunners over his last 16 innings, which covers his two starts from the last two series. He threw five scoreless innings against Rocket City, and a solo shot was the only damage he incurred in a quality start against the Smokies.

*Tanner McDougal is making a case for a September audition, if only because he'll need to be added to the 40-man roster after the season, and he's not having many issues with his three-inning limitation in Birmingham. He pitched scoreless ball in both his outings, and needed just 27 pitches to throw three perfect innings against Knoxville.

*Tyler Schweitzer still has a 0.00 ERA in Birmingham, as he threw a shutout's worth of innings in tandem action with McDougal (9 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 K). Opopnents hit just .178/.211/.192 against him in August.

*Shane Murphy completed a great two weeks for the Birmingham rotation, as he allowed just one unearned run over 10 total innings against Rocket City and Knoxville. Just like McDougal his last time out, Murphy needed a minimum of pitches to set down the Smokies, throwing 48 before reaching his five-inning limit.

Winston-Salem Dash

• Last two series: 5-1 vs. Wilmington; 4-2 @Rome
• Record: 53-71 (28-31 in second half)
• Next series: vs. Greenville
• Individual stats

The Winston-Salem Dash are playing their best ball of the season, so much so that they're still theoretically in contention with a week to play. They trail first-place Hub City by 3½ games, but the bigger problem is the two teams in between, but by winning nine of their last 12, they've at least helped give the organization a chance to finish .500 after being the primary reason they would come up short.

The roster has a lot more going for it, with the promotion of Caleb Bonemer rounding out the infield, and Gage Ziehl righting the ship to give the Dash the deepest rotation they've had all season.

Position Players

*Jeral Pérez cooled off from his Fortnight's Finest-grade production the previous two weeks, but even though the strikeouts bubbled up on him again, the comedown didn't stop him from posting his best month as a member of the White Sox organization. He hit .340/.402/.534 over 27 games in August.

*Samuel Zavala finished August with a flourish, hitting .340/.411/.420 with four doubles and six walks over 12 games against Wilmington and Rome. He's approaching last year's total of plate appearances with Winston-Salem, and the improvement appears to be concentrated in his hit tool:

• 2024: 467 PA, .187/.340/.301, 15 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 83 BB, 104 K
• 2025: 460 PA, .254/.358/.369, 17 2B, 2 2B, 8 HR, 61 BB, 102 K

*Caleb Bonemer capped off his first series at High-A with his first two-homer game. He finished the week going 6-for-18, and five of those hits went for extra bases (two homers, one triple, two doubles). James talked to him recently, and will have a story about his progress on Wednesday.

*Ryan Burrowes is starting to rotate more in left field with Bonemer, Lodise and Perez holding down the infield spots. He's faring well enough at the plate, hitting .273/.368/.394 with his first High-A homer and producing around a steady trickle of strikeouts (11 over 38 plate appearances).

*Lyle Miller-Green is only playing a couple of times a week after the recent wave of promotions, so he's currently on the outside looking in. He fared well in limited time, for what it's worth (4-for-15 with a homer and two doubles).

*T.J. McCants is getting regular run in the outfield after his stay on the Development List, and he's earning the time by hitting .321/.424/.464 over the 10 games against Wilmington and Rome, with five steals in five attempts.

Pitchers

*Christian Oppor completed five innings for the first time since July 2, an opportunity he created for himself by only needing 66 pitches. He threw three strong starts over the last two series, allowing just one run over 13 innings.

*Lucas Gordon threw five innings for the first time since June 1 thanks to similar efficiency (68 pitches, 51 strikes). He was saddled with the loss due to two unearned runs, but it's still his best work since missing a month with a back injury.

*Gage Ziehl also cleared five innings in his last two starts allowing just two runs (one earned) combined, while still throwing as many strikes as ever. He had a rocky start to the White Sox chapter of his career after coming over from the Yankees in the Austin Slater trade, but he credited a mechanical tweak with getting him back on track.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

• Last two series: 3-3 @Delmarva; 5-1 vs. Salem
• Record: 60-66 (28-32 in second half)
• Next two series: @Augusta
• Individual stats

The Cannon Ballers also refuse to go quietly, although they've been eliminated for quite some time because the Myrtle Beach Pelicans ran away with the second half pennant. They lost Bonemer for the good reason and Ronny Hernandez for a bad one, but the introductions of numerous recently drafted players filled out the lineup to make it one worth tracking, even if the excitement level is yet to be determined.

Position Players

*George Wolkow finished August hitting .247/.321/.381 despite seldom looking like that kind of hitter on any given day. He rallied with a strong two weeks against Wilmington and Salem, hitting .268/.340/.439 with just 12 strikeouts over 47 plate appearances, and he's been successful on his last 14 stolen base attempts.

*Javier Mogollón was never placed on the 60-day or full-season injured lists, but nevertheless, he missed the last two-plus months due to the hamstring injury that effectively ended his season on June 29.

*Ronny Hernandez joined Mogollón on the injured list during the Delmarva series, as he appeared to injure his hand or wrist on an awkward dive going from first to third on a single. It caught him in the middle of a strong start to the series, as he was 5-for-13 with a homer, double and four walks over four games. The silver lining is that his absence opened playing time behind the plate for some new additions. It's just not silver lining for him.

*Adrian Gíl made four starts at catcher over the last two weeks, which is the most regular work he's gotten there all season. It coincided with him going 0-for-19 with five walks over the Delmarva and Salem series, and he's hitless in his last 23 at-bats overall.

*Colby Shelton can say that his second fortnight in professional baseball (7-for-41, all singles) went better than his first (2-for-39, one homer). The 20.6 percent strikeout rate isn't crazy, but the .131 BABIP stands out. He's been playing mostly shortstop.

*Anthony DePino has become an on-base machine in Low-A, hitting .270/.440/.432 with 11 walks over his last 11 games. He notched his first homer, so he's a week from calling it a successful debut.

*Ely Brown can say the same, as he reached base 24 times over the 10 games he played against Delmarva and Salem, good for a .500 OBP. He's hitting .364/.463/.409 against right-handed pitching in the early going.

*Rylan Galvan has been the biggest beneficiary of the playing time at catcher, as the 13th-round pick out of Texas made five starts behind the plate after being added to the Kannapolis roster during the Delmarva series.

*Kaleb Freeman also made a start at catcher, but he's been mostly left field with some second base otherwise. He went 2-for-27 with 11 strikeouts over nine games, which is why we're leading with the defensive responsibilities.

*James Taussig has made an early impression from the undrafted ranks, making a couple of starts in right field during the Delmarva series before earning his keep as DH against Salem.

Pitchers

*Luis Reyes is putting the finishing touches on a breakout season, reaching his inning limit in both of his starts the last two weeks. The combined line: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K.

*Mathias LaCombe brushed off the worst outing of his young career with three effective abbreviated starts against Delmarva and Salem. He worked around some control issues to allow just one run on four hits over eight innings, striking out 11.

*Pierce George leads the Cannon Ballers in appearances, but he might be wearing down from the career-high workload. He finished August on a sour note, with this gnarly combined line from his final three appearances of the month: 1.1 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 7 BB, 1 K.

*Blake Shepardson returned to the mound for the Delmarva series after missing nearly a month, but he experienced a control relapse as well, walking six batters over his last two appearances, which also spanned just 1⅓ innings.

White Sox Minor Keys

Kannapolis 10, Augusta 6

• Ely Brown drove in five runs during a 4-for-6 night, with a double and a stolen base.
• George Wolkow was 1-for-4 with a double, two walks, a strikeout and a stolen base.
• Anthony DePino was 0-for-5 with a walk and two strikeouts. He also stole a base.
• Colby Shelton went 0-for-4 with a sac fly and two strikeouts.
• Kaleb Freeman, 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Rylan Galvin was 0-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts.
• Pierce George might be fixed: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 18 of 29 pitches for strikes.
• Blake Shepardson, maybe not: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 2 WP, 10 of 28 pitches for strikes.

Note:

*The results of this game aren't included in the lines above, since it's the start of a fresh series.