White Sox Minor League Update: April 26, 2025
Two squeakers, for Charlotte and Kannapolis, including an outstanding start for Luis Reyes
Charlotte Knights 8, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 7 (Statcast Box)
Charlotte put on an extraordinary comeback after falling behind 5-0 on the road in the very first inning on Saturday. In fact, S/W-B ran the score to 7-0 within three innings, mostly at the expense of reliever Trey McGough, who was pushed into starting tonight by the absolute inability by the White Sox front office to collect more than six or seven passable, majors-ready starting arms at any given time.
McGough gave up five earned in two innings, sped by four walks, and has now seen what was a phenomenal season spent in 2024 in both the Baltimore and Chicago systems completely erased, as the southpaw now sits with a 9.00 ERA with no hope of a call-up that seemed highly plausible last September.
Now, for the good news: Charlotte ran off a string of unanswered runs as well, and its eight beat the RR’s seven. After getting one back in the fifth, the Knights played singles ball in scoring another three runs, on one-baggers from Bryan Ramos, Kyle Teel and Andre Lipcius, and the game narrowed to just one run after Corey Julks doubled in two more. Zach DeLoach knotted the game, 7-7, with a double of his own, and we had a brand-new ballgame.
After all of that hitting, wouldn’t you just know it, the eventual lead run came home on a wild pitch.
It wasn’t quite a Sarah Langs WHEEEEEE, but this WPA chart is fun to look at. The Knights improved to 11-15.
Rocket City Trash Pandas 4, Birmingham Barons 2
You could call it a hard-luck loss for Wikelman González, but if you read Malachi Hayes’ crisp piece on the minors yesterday you’re hip to the fact that WG can’t harness his chi enough (yup, four walks and a hit batsman tonight) to establish firm rooting as a starter at the moment. With High-A starters like Lucas Gordon and Jake Bockenstedt chomping at the bit for some Bham time, Wikelman may need to sort himself in the pen.
The Birmingham offense tonight was buff (eight hits, three walks) but not opportunistic (six LOB, 0-for-6 with RISP). Precious few Barons hitters are clicking at the moment, so it’s a bit of a miracle the club is above water, at 11-9. Caden Connor did get the call-up from W-S, though, making his debut tonight at first base and going 0-for-3.
Rome Emperors 16, Winston-Salem Dash 10
Two days ago, no-hitter; last night, a modest loss; tonight ... what the hell?
OK well, it was a slugfest in North Carolina, with the two clubs combining for 26 runs on 30 hits. Blows were traded equally through seven innings, with Rome ahead after the stretch, 11-10 — but the Dash pen turned nail-biter to rout.
The offense, in scoring 10, was prodigious, with 11 hits and four for extra bases. But Rome had almost double (20-11) runners in scoring position, and with no W-S arm standing tall tonight, the cause was lost. Winston-Salem sinks to 6-14. I know I say this a lot, but a “vaunted” system like Chicago’s should have a few teams who actually win games.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 1
We get to end on a good note, as the CBs got a Nathan Archer solo shot in the seventh to spell the difference in this game. As you can imagine, the Kanny pitching was masterful, anchored by Luis Reyes in his best start of the young season.
The offense wasn’t too loud, but Jordan Sprinkle continues to audition for a return to High-A, batting .413 with a 1.007 OPS and snagging his 18th bag of the season in the game. The Cannon Ballers improve to 11-9.