White Sox Minor League Update: May 11, 2024

Lucas Gordon and Ky Bush flex in their starts, while the Complex Sox offense goes ham

Charlotte Knights6, Gwinnett Stripers 2 (Gameday Box) (Statcast Box)
It’s Freaky Friday that’s so freaky it’s landed on a Saturday, as the floundering Knights right the ship and dominate Gwinnett in a victory punctuated by the ... bullpen?

It’s not even to say that starter Chad Kuhl was bad (a lot of traffic, but just two earned in four frames), it’s just that the arm barn dominated: five innings of scoreless, one-hit ball. Arguably the best of the that group, first man in Aaron McGarity, earned the win with two scoreless innings to improve to 3-0 on the season.

The offense, well, they really weren’t that great, in spite of six ticks flipped onto the board; one tally scored via wild pitch, two more courtesy of a Stripers error; Colson Montgomery and Carlos Pérez where the only Knights to reach base twice in the game.

But there was a homer, a first for Justin Walsh:

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Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3, Birmingham Barons 1 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Have the Barons bought into their hype? Double-A first-time manager Sergio Santos is faced with this first team slump, as this battle between Southern League division leaders has skewed dramatically Pensacola’s way. Birmingham once again succumbed, soft-batted, making it four in a row and four of five against the Blue Wahoos.

Want to hear more about the soft bats? No you don’t. OK, well, 10 strikeouts, no walks. Five hits. OK, that’s enough.

If there’s a tragic twist to tonight’s contest, it’s Ky Bush getting his third win snatched right from under his nose. The southpaw saw his victory dissolve in the hands of new acquisition

: Bush strode off of the mound after 97 pitches, with runners on first and second with one out, and AHT wild-pitched ducks onto the pond, then coughed up a center-cut full-count three-run dinger that not only reversed the fortunes of the game but provided all the Wahoo O necessary for the win. They do say that one pitch can change the course of a game ...

That said, Bush was brilliant, utterly handcuffing the second-best club in the Southern League with a Double-A Saturday-best 22 swing-and-misses. It’s not just the desperation for something inspiring to come from this saggy loss that prompts the observation that the southpaw may be ready for his Charlotte audition — if not South Side.

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Asheville Tourists 6, Winston-Salem Dash 4 (Gameday Box) (Statcast Box)
Although it appears that Noah Schultz will not be seeing the fifth inning anytime soon, we can still lament his brutal fortunes in Saturday’s game: The lefthander was very solid (four innings, three hits, one earned, five Ks) but was in line for the loss if not for the fact that his Dash teammates got him off of the hook — and that José Ramírez was a disaster.

Ramírez attempted heroism by aspiring to a three-inning effort out of the pen, and could have vultured a win once the Winston-Salem hitters woke from slumber. But, alas, his control utterly escaped him — not just five walks, but two wild pitches, two hit batsman, and a throwing error for good measure.

Need an upper at this point? Hey, Jacob Gonazlez is making a HARD PUSH for assignment to where all the fun is, over in Birmingham. The plan might have been to pack the 2023 first rounder’s bags around or after this year’s draft, but waiting that long would be a crime.

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Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 7, Delmarva Shorebirds 1 (Gameday Box) (Statcast Box)
At some point, Lucas Gordon is going to have to move up from Kannapolis. No dis on our Low-A club, but the southpaw ate innings from the jump and has yet to give up any more than two earned runs in any single pro outing. He kicked off 2024 with a no-hit five innings, and now, five weeks later, he’s running out six innings of one-hit ball.

But this was a full-roster win, including no-hit appearances by relieves Tommy Vail and Nick Altermatt and multi-hit efforts from four of the nine bats in the lineup.

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ACL White Sox 13, ACL Royals 5 (Gameday box)
There’s something in the water, at least when talking about those teams who call Camelback Ranch their home away from home. After a flaccid, three loss start to the season, the Complex Sox are rocking — so don’t even think of knocking them.

The rooks improved to 2-3 by running the score up to 8-0 in the third. Seriously, some of the K.C. roster wasn’t even out of the clubhouse by then. The 19-hit (!) assault on Rooks Royale ws led by SIX Sox putting up crooked-number hits. Leading the maul was the very top of the order: Ryan Burrowes leading off and going 3-for-5, George Wolkow putting up 4-for-5 with two doubles. Honorable mention goes to pesky Darío Borrero, at 3-for-6 with two doubles and a team-high four ribbies.

Five games in, let’s see how our Complex Sox are lighting up the desert:

Ryan Burrowes .474 batting average/1.016 OPS
George Wolkow .350/1.009
Adrian Gil .412/1.171
Guillermo Rodríguez .333/.993
Stiven Flores .417/.879
Darío Borrero .375/1.069
Arnold Prado .455/.955

The pitching was, eh, not the sharpest. But when you bats are slapping out 19 hits, you don’t have to be sharp.

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