White Sox Minor League Update: May 16, 2024

Charlotte splits its doubleheader, Birmingham shuts out the Lookouts, and other storylines from the farm

Durham Bulls 4, Charlotte Knights 3 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
I’ve got to be honest with you, reader. I just worked a doubleheader here in Bowling Green, and having to cover one in Triple-A to start this minor league recap is some sort of cruel irony.

With that, let’s get into this.

The Knights lost a close one in the opener. A back-and-forth affair, which saw several lead changes throughout, came courtesy of solid starting pitching and plenty of timely offense.

Starter, Nick Nastrini continued to put up respectable figures with this latest outing. In six innings pitched, the righty allowed four earned runs, struck out five, and walked two. While he may not have had his best stuff on the mound, he ate up six of the game’s seven innings and kept his guys in the running throughout.

Offensively, Oscar Colás and Wilmer Difo combined to record half of the Knights hits, with each tallying multi-hit performances. Catcher Chuckie Robinson, who has been on fire to start the year in Charlotte, recorded the lone Knights longball and drove in two of Charlotte’s three runs.

No shame in losing a hard-fought game, particularly when your team played as well as you could have hoped for. Let’s hand out game one honors, reader.

Charlotte Knights 5, Durham Bulls 2 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Boy, have I got good news for you if Colson Montgomery was your bounce-back vote.

Yep, Colson was the only Knight in the nightcap to record multiple hits. Colás, for his part, made his one hit count.

All of this scoring was backed up by another admirable pitching performance from yet another starter with major league experience this year: Jonathan Cannon delivered five innings of one-run ball and struck out five en route to the win.

Justin Anderson, back fresh from a one-game stint on the South Side during the Sox-Nats doubleheader on Tuesday, continues to make a strong case for an extended look at the major league level as he recorded his fifth save in Triple-A, with an inning of scoreless ball and two strikeouts.

All in all, nothing to complain about here. A solid win from a young Knights team. Let’s distribute honors, reader.

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Birmingham Barons 6, Chattanooga Lookouts 0 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Another game, another six runs on the board for our Double-A Birmingham Barons. And this time, the Lookouts were held scoreless. Starter Mason Adams was (predictably) money in this one despite not having his absolute best stuff on the mound. Adams tossed six scoreless frames, allowing five hits while walking two and fanning three. He rightfully earned the dub in this one.

The Barons were supplied power on offense from an unlikely source in this one.

Womack’s first homer of the year added insurance to a two-run lead that the Barons had manufactured during the first four innings. Jacob Burke and Tim Elko each notched multi-hit efforts, accounting for four of the nine Barons knocks on the night. Burke in particular needed a breakout game considering his .507 OPS this season, so hopefully his two hits today are a sign of better things to come.

What’s not to love about a shutout? Will you, the reader, reward the pitching staff for this achievement, or will the offense be recognized for its second straight night of putting up six runs?

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Greenville Drive 6, Winston-Salem Dash 4 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Winston-Salem’s late offense proved to not be enough to overcome shaky starting pitching in tonight’s loss. Top 30 prospect Peyton Pallette took the rock in this one and struggled through four frames. His final line would read six runs (four earned) allowed on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts. His season ERA sits at an unsightly 7.25 after tonight’s effort.

Lefty Shane Murphy, who has yet to allow an earned run in 2024, kept that streak alive with four shutout innings in relief of the inconsistent Pallette. Murphy was used almost exclusively as a starter last year, where he notched a 3.63 ERA in 21 starts at the Low-A level. If you’re a heady Sox fan looking for a sneaky favorite to root for in the lower levels of the minors, look no further than this 14th round pick from 2022.

Offensively, Winston-Salem was able to get runners on, but had difficulty scoring them. They outhit the Drive 8-7 despite losing by two tallies. DH Bryce WIllits stacked two hits in what would be the only multi-hit individual performance by the Dash in this one. Outfielder Eddie Park, playing in just his fourth game at the High-A level, tallied another hit and an RBI and continues to show solid fundamental skills as he adjusts to the next level of the minor league ladder.

While today ended in a loss for the young crew from Winston-Salem, they played hard and had several individual performances worthy of acknowledgment. Who will you reward, reader?

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Fayetteville Woodpeckers 6, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
What goes up must come down. Fresh on the heels of a 22-run performance the night before, Kannapolis was only able to scratch across two runs in tonight’s loss. Starter Aldrin Batista was in good form, slogging through five innings while only allowing a single earned run. Despite that fact, a couple of unearned runs sank Batista’s ship and saddled him with the loss.

Changing sides, slugger Ryan Galanie continued to make his case for an early-season promotion with another longball. After the dust had settled tonight, he was sporting a stellar .351/.452/.598 triple slash. In 56 career minor league games, the righty-hitting Galanie sports an average north of .300 and an OPS just shy of .900.

Catcher Ronny Hernández recorded the only multi-hit effort for Kannapolis in this one, tacking on an RBI for good measure.

Despite taking the L, this young Cannon Ballers team continued to show signs of the explosiveness that scored then 22 runs the game prior. Let’s dole out some hardware, reader.

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ACL White Sox 6, ACL D-Backs 1 (Gameday Box)
A convincing win to round things out in Arizona. Venezuelan infielder Javier Mngollón, who I profiled in a previous iteration of our minor league recap, belted his second longball of the season and drove his OPS on the young season to .900. Center fielder Abraham Núñez likewise enjoyed a strong game, doubling in half of the ACL Sox runs in this matchup and adding a walk, for good measure.

On the mound, starter Luis Reyes had a strong showing. He went three innings, allowing just three hits and one earnie while striking out six. Righty Emerson Talavera went three full innings in relief and held the ACL D-Backs scoreless AND hitless. He struck out five. It’s José Mendoza, however, who would record the win in this one. He pitched two shutout innings and fanned five of his own to earn the W in this one.

A convincing win in this taste of ACL action. Let’s close this out with some voting.

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