White Sox Weekly Minor League Update: June 7-13

Charlotte Knights (13-22 - 11 GB)

WEEKLY MVP
Tim Beckham .292 BA, 2 HR, 4 XBH, 3 R, 8 RBI, 0 BB, 6 K

Seby Zavala 1-for-8, 2 BB, 2 K (two games after coming back from the IL)
Luis González .235 BA, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 2 SB
Gavin Sheets .130 BA, 1 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 7 K
Blake Rutherford .150 BA, 2 XBH, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K
Jake Burger .150 BA, 3 XBH, 3 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 8 K
Hunter Schryver 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Kodi Medeiros 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K
Zack Burdi ¹⁄₃ IP, 27.00 ERA, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K
Jonathan Stiever 5 IP, 9.00 ERA, 5 H, 3 BB, 7 K
Jimmy Lambert 5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K
Reynaldo López 4 IP, 15.75 ERA, 6 H, 4 BB, 3 K
Jace Fry 3 ¹⁄₃ IP, 5.40 ERA, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K

With the injuries to a lot of Sox starters, Charlotte will be an important team to look at going forward — that is, of course, where Brian Goodwin started, and look what he did last week. With the Nick Madrigal injury, it was assumed they would call up a middle infielder but that did not happen. However, Tim Beckham put together a week that put his name on the map as a potential replacement if Danny Mendick and Leury García cannot hold down second. Overall, Beckham has struggled this season with a wRC+ only at 66, but that seems to be more related to BABIP. His plate discipline numbers (BB% and K%) are in line with his MLB career (in which he’s had a 97 WRC+), but the BABIP is down about 80 points. Now, that shouldn’t be an excuse, because Beckham has 473 games played in the majors; he should be much better in Triple-A, and that hasn’t been the case. This past week though, the BABIP was back up to normal and he also showed some pop with a .625 slugging percentage. Beckham will need to continue to hit like this to be considered for a call-up, as he was already passed up for a promotion even though a player at his position was put on the 60-day IL.

MVP Ranks

Gavin Sheets (53.2)
Jake Burger (27.8)
Mike Wright (26.4)
Marco Hernández (12.7)
Adam Engel (12.1)
Mikie Mahtook (9.9)

Cold Cat Ranks

Reynaldo López (-18.9)
Matt Tomshaw (-14.9)
Félix Paulino (-12.8)
Zach Remillard (-12.7)
Ryan Burr (-12.6)
Nate Nolan (-11.0)
Zack Burdi (-10.9)
Alex McRae (-10.4)
Connor Sadzeck (-10.1)

---

Birmingham Barons (22-13 - 2 GA)

WEEKLY MVP
Félix Paulino 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 2.08 ERA, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Micker Adolfo .261 BA, 1 HR, 5 XBH, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 8 K
Romy González .238 BA, 4 HR, 6 R, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 7 K, 1 SB
Konnor Pilkington 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 3.86 ERA, 1 H, 2 BB, 7 K
Jason Bilous 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 9.82 ERA, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K
Andrew Perez 1 ¹⁄₃ IP, 27.00 ERA, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Bennett Sousa 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 3.86 ERA, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Kade McClure 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 4.91 ERA, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 K

So, not only was Félix Paulino not the best Barons player last week, he really wasn’t even the best pitcher. Not sure how that happened, but Micker Adolfo and Romy González were much better. Adolfo is starting to make the case that he deserves a promotion, and is doing very well at a time where the Sox may look to trade him. The only problem is, the Sox do not seem interested in trades right now and the Charlotte outfield is full, so Micker will just keep crushing the ball down in Alabama. He has a .277 ISO right now, with eight homers and nine doubles. Adolfo has more extra-base hits than singles, and it would not be surprising if that ended up being the case by the time he leaves Birmingham. Last week was no different, with another homer and four more doubles. The walks are still down 5%, but Micker is hitting the ball much better this season compared to 2019.

Meanwhile, González has hit a homer in the last three games, including a two-homer performance. He now leads all White Sox MiLBers in homers with 10 (and is tied for second behind José Abreu’s 11 for the lead in the entire organizaton) as his ISO blew up to .340. That will obviously come down, but González’s performance last week was remarkable. He is still walking more often than his time in Low-A, and is still stealing a good number of bases (eight in nine tries). The only thing that is lacking is González’s defense at shortstop, where he has nine errors in 23 games — objectively unacceptable for the most important defensive position. González has also played second this season and in the past so maybe that is where he finally ends up, but it has been quite a journey for a guy that started out as an outfielder. With the bat he has, though, the Sox will find a place for him.

MVP Ranks

Blake Battenfield (22.3)
Konnor Pilkington (22.1)
Micker Adolfo (16.8)
Carlos Pérez (13.5)
Ofriedy Gómez (12.9)
Kade McClure (12.7)

Cold Cat Ranks

Ian Dawkins (-32.7)
J.B. Olson (-22.2)
Alec Hansen (-19.0)
Joel Booker (-13.7)

---

Winston-Salem Dash (17-19 - 7 GB)

WEEKLY MVP
Taylor Varnell 5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Yolbert Sánchez .412 BA, 1 XBH, 1 R 1 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K
Lenyn Sosa .190 BA, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 SB
Luis Curbelo .160 BA, 2 XBH, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 8 K
Bryce Bush Did not play (shoulder injury)
Caleb Freeman 2 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1 H, 4 BB, 2 K

After a couple of tough starts for Taylor Varnell, he is back to not allowing runs during his starts. In his last start he threw five shutout innings to get his season back on track, as his play continues to indicate he deserves a promotion to Double-A. Varnell now has a 2.16 ERA but his advanced stats are worse, which is notable. He is still striking out a good number of batters, besides last week, but it is not as high since the time he was in rookie ball. Batters are not really hitting the ball all that well, with about a quarter of fly balls not leaving the infield and 50% of batted balls to the opposite field. Varnell is 26, so that is something people should keep in mind regarding his success against younger talent, but he is still doing extremely well. At this point, there’s no reason Varnell should be in High-A other than that the Birmingham rotation is filled with good starters and higher-profile prospects.

MVP Ranks

Luis Curbelo (25.3)
Davis Martin (25.0)
Taylor Varnell (22.7)
Jason Bilous (19.6)
Johan Dominguez (18.9)
Alex Destino (16.6)
Ian Dawkins (16.2) (a season of extremes, Cold Cat in B-ham, MVP in W-S)
Travis Moniot (11.9)
Luke Shilling (9.8)

Cold Cat Ranks

Lenyn Sosa (-18.6)
Isaiah Carranza (-14.8)
Cooper Bradford (-14.6)
Duke Ellis (-12.7)
Wilber Perez (-12.5)
Lazaro Leal (-12.3)
Bryce Bush (-12.2)
Dilmer Mejía (-9.6)
Declan Cronin (-9.0)

---

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (7-28 - 15 GB)

WEEKLY MVP
Chase Krogman .333, 1 HR, 2 XBH, 3 R, 4 BB, 7 K

James Beard: 0-for-8, 0 BB, 2 K (Two games played)
José Rodríguez .333 BA, 3 HR, 6 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 SB
Bryan Ramos .227 BA, 1 HR, 3 XBH, 6 R, 4 RBI, 6 BB, 3 K, 2 SB
DJ Gladney .368 BA, 1 HR, 3 XBH, 3 R, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K
Luis Mieses .059 BA, 1 XBH, 1 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K
Lency Delgado .000 BA, 1 RBI, 5 BB, 8 K
Andrew Dalquist 5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 K
McKinley Moore 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Bailey Horn 8 ¹⁄₃ IP, 1.08 ERA, 7 H, 3 BB, 8 K
Yoelvin Silven 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 0.00 ERA, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Matthew Thompson 1 ¹⁄₃ IP, 40.50 ERA, 5 H, 4 BB, 2 K
Jared Kelley Did not pitch (on the IL)
Tyler Johnson 2 ²⁄₃ IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K (rehab assignment)

Not as big of a quarrel on the Kannapolis MVP as the Birmingham one, but José Rodríguez, Andrew Dalquist, Bailey Horn, and DJ Gladney each probably had better weeks. Though, Chase Krogman did have a pretty good week as he looks to get back on track after his stint on the IL. In 13 games so far this season, Krogman has three homers already, but that also comes with 21 strikeouts. Krogman is only 20 so it is not all that surprising that his K-rate is at 37.5%, but it still isn’t a good sign if he wants to be promoted this season. For guys that could get a promotion from the list of players that did well this past week, Horn may be the most likely, though that assumption is mostly due to age.

Horn is 23, and has showed good command through the year with just a 7.6% walk rate. The jury is still out if he will be a starter or reliever but at least in the early going, he has been a much better starter (even if 19 total innings pitched is not a lot to go off on). As a starter, Horn has a 0.56 ERA and is averaging four innings per start. In fact, he has only allowed a run in just one of his starts, the other five earned runs come from relief appearances. If these type of starts continue, there is no reason why Horn shouldn’t be with the Dash, a team that is lacking notable prospects compared to Kannapolis.

MVP Ranks

José Rodríguez (58.1)
DJ Gladney (22.1)
Chase Krogman (15.8)
Caberea Weaver (9.5)
Bryan Ramos (9.2)

Cold Cat Ranks

Marcus Evey (-15.9)
Yoelvin Silven (-15.2)
Harvin Mendoza (-14.8)
Garvin Alston Jr. (-13.8)
Jared Kelley (-10.2)
Tyson Messer (-9.4)

---

White Sox Organizational All-Stars

Catcher Carlos Pérez, Birmingham Barons
First Base Gavin Sheets, Charlotte Knights
Second Base Marco Hernández, Charlotte Knights
Third Base Jake Burger, Charlotte Knights
Shortstop José Rodríguez, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (**Offensive MVP**)
Left Field Alex Destino, Winston-Salem Dash
Center Field Chase Krogman, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
Right Field Micker Adolfo, Birmingham Barons
Designated Hitter Luis Curbelo, Winston-Salem Dash

Bench (3B) DJ Gladney, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
Bench (CF) Adam Engel, Charlotte Knights
Bench (OF-AB-2B) Travis Moniot, Winston-Salem Dash
Bench (OF) Mikie Mahtook, Charlotte Knights
Bench (CF) Caberea Weaver, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
Bench (2B) Bryan Ramos, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Right-Handed Starting Pitcher Jason Bilous, Birmingham Barons (**Pitching MVP**)
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher Mike Wright, Charlotte Knights
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher Davis Martin, Winston-Salem Dash
Left-Handed Starting Pitcher Taylor Varnell, Winston-Salem Dash
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher Blake Battenfield, Birmingham Barons

Left-Handed Relief Pitcher Konnor Pilkington, Birmingham Barons
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Johan Dominguez, Winston-Salem Dash
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Ofriedy Gómez, Birmingham Barons
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Kade McClure, Birmingham Barons
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Luke Shilling, Winston-Salem Dash

---

South Side Sox Writer Standings