White Sox Minor League Weekly Update: May 31 - June 6

Charlotte Knights (11-18)

WEEKLY MVP
Jonathan Stiever 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 K

Seby Zavala Did not play (On the IL)
Luis González .176 BA, 2 HR, 5 R, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K
Adam Engel .167 BA, 1 XBH, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 3 SB (promoted to MLB)
Gavin Sheets .286 BA, 1 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
Blake Rutherford .077 BA, 1 XBH, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K
Jake Burger .286 BA, 1 XBH, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K
Hunter Schryver 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K
Kodi Medeiros 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 H, 4 BB, 3 K
Zack Burdi 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Jimmy Lambert 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 H, 3 BB, 7 K
Reynaldo López 2 IP, 9.00 ERA, 2 H, 4 BB, 3 K
Jace Fry 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 H, 3 BB, 3 K

It took a while but Jonathan Stiever has finally achieved a Weekly MVP in Charlotte. The highest-ranking player for the Knights had a quality start last week, with a scoreless, six-inning outing. So far in 21 Triple-A innings he has a 4.29 ERA, which falls in-between his FIP (3.48) and xFIP (4.68). His strikeout numbers are down while his walks are up, but it is good to remember that Stiever skipped Double-A and if you have seen him during his MLB cameos, he has looked overmatched. That seemed to continue in Triple-A, until last week. He is not allowing a ton of homers and his ground ball rate is at 40%, which is normal. Fly balls allowed have fallen, but they are being replaced by line-drives which explains why the HR/FB rate is down but he is still allowing a good number of hits. Stiever needs to get his command together if the Sox want to be comfortable starting him if there is an injury in the rotation on the big club; his last start needs to be a future trend, because since his walk-rate has more than doubled compared to 2019. Fans and the Sox have expected big things from the Charlotte rotation, and Stiever and Jimmy Lambert need to take last week in stride and continue to improve.

MVP Ranks

Gavin Sheets (46.5)
Jake Burger (28.7)
Mike Wright (22.3)
Marco Hernández (12.7)
Adam Engel (12.1)
Blake Rutherford (11.5)
Mikie Mahtook (8.9)

Cold Cat Ranks

Félix Paulino (-12.8)
Ryan Burr (-12.6)
Zach Remillard (-10.5)
Alex McRae (-10.4)
Reynaldo López (-9.)

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Birmingham Barons (20-9)

WEEKLY MVP
John Parke 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K

Micker Adolfo .250 BA, 3 XBH, 1 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 8 K
Romy González .250 BA, 1 HR, 6 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 3 SB
Konnor Pilkington 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Jason Bilous 4 IP, 6.75 ERA, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Alec Hansen 1 ²⁄₃ IP, 5.40 ERA, 1 H, 7 BB, 4 K
Andrew Perez 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K
Bennett Sousa 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Ofreidy Gómez: 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (promoted to Triple-A)
Kade McClure 5 IP, 5.40 ERA, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K

An old name and an older prospect comes up with the MVP this week in John Parke. The southpaw is just a good pitcher, always has been, he just does not project as a starter in the majors. Nevertheless, he is showing things we have not seen from him before on the stat line. Parke is striking out batters at a clip that he hasn’t since his time in Kannapolis back in 2018, while keeping his walk numbers right around his career normal. Some of this should not be surprising, as he is 26 and did pitch in Double-A back in 2019, but it is real improvement since his K-rate has improved 10% from his time with the Barons in 2019. He has a 3.38 ERA right now, but has still been getting a bit unlucky with a .343 BABIP against a 48% ground ball rate — so hopefully that improves. There are other pitchers who probably will get promotions before Parke, like Kade McClure or Konnor Pilkington, but when Parke does get his time in Triple-A, it will be deserved.

MVP Ranks

Konnor Pilkington (22.1)
Blake Battenfield (19.8)
Kade McClure (15.1)
Micker Adolfo (13.8)
Ofriedy Gómez (12.9)
Zack Granite (11.5)
Jason Bilous (8.9)
Carlos Pérez (8.8)

Cold Cat Ranks

Ian Dawkins (-32.7)
J.B. Olson (-22.2)
Joel Booker (-13.7)
Craig Dedelow (-11.6)
Alec Hansen (-11.6)

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Winston-Salem Dash (15-15)

WEEKLY MVP
Travis Moniot .538 BA, 5 XBH, 3 HR, 6 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K

Yolbert Sánchez .400 BA, 2 XBH, 1 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
Lenyn Sosa .286 BA, 1 XBH, 3 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 SB
Luis Curbelo .182 BA, 1 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 5 BB, 11 K
Bryce Bush Did not play (shoulder injury)
Caleb Freeman 3 IP, 9.00 ERA, 4 H, 0 BB, 7 K
Tyler Johnson 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K (rehab assignment)
Lane Ramsey 2 IP, 4.50 ERA, E H, 0 BB, 3 K (promoted to Double-A)

Another older player on a lower level, but Travis Moniot has taken advantage of that and is having his best season as a professional, thanks to this hot week. He currently has a 144 wRC+ and .297 ISO. In 2021, he has played just about everywhere, but seems like he is mostly a first baseman and corner outfielder. Moniot probably does not have much of an MLB future, but he is hitting the cover off of the baseball right now. The Dash need it, with Bryce Bush out and Luis Mieses and Harvin Mendoza demoted for poor performance. Moniot always seems to walk a good amount, but he also strikes out 40% of the time so it kind of cancels out. Though he did show power last week, that is not his game; Moniot needs a higher BABIP to have a good season. Before last week, he had only hit one homer in his professional career — and he was drafted in 2018! It has been a fun week for him, but the biggest news out of Winston-Salem is pitching again, starring White Sox pitching whisperer Danny Farquhar.

MVP Ranks

Luis Curbelo (25.3)
Jason Bilous (19.6)
Davis Martin (19.0)
Johan Dominguez (17.3)
Alex Destino (16.4)
Taylor Varnell (14.3)
Ian Dawkins (9.3)

Cold Cat Ranks

Lenyn Sosa (-23.5)
Isaiah Carranza (-14.8)
Bryce Bush (-12.2)
Dilmer Mejía (-9.6)
Declan Cronin (-9.0)

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Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (4-25)

WEEKLY MVP
José Rodríguez .286 BA, 1 XBH, 3 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K, 3 SB

James Beard: .167 BA, 1 R, 1 XBH, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K
Chase Krogman .176, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 10 K, 1 SB
Bryan Ramos .200 BA, 3 XBH, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K
DJ Gladney 0-for-3, 0 BB, 1 K (One game played)
Luis Mieses .235 BA, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K (demoted to Low-A)
Lency Delgado .125 BA, 1 HR, 3 R, 3 BB, 7 K
Andrew Dalquist 3 ¹⁄₃ IP, 8.10 ERA, 4 H, 4 BB, 5 K
McKinley Moore 2 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Bailey Horn 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K
Yoelvin Silven 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 7.71 ERA, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Matthew Thompson 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 8.31 ERA, 2 H, 6 BB, 7 K
Jared Kelley Did not pitch (on the IL)
Benyamin Bailey (demoted to Arizona)

Another weekly MVP for José Rodríguez, but also a bit of regression to the mean for him as well. The gap power has not been there as much recently, and his wRC+ has come all the way down to 115; it is still very impressive for a player to do that at 20, though. The batting average has come down, but the good thing is that his plate approach is still largely the same. Again, Rodríguez does not walk much but he is still in line with his rookie ball BB-rates — but his K-rate is still down compared to previous seasons. Those are good signs that Rodríguez’s first month was not a fluke and that he is just going through a rough patch right now. Because he doesn’t walk, his wRC+ will be BABIP-dependent and not being a home run hitter means Rodríguez will go through stretches with a lot of singles. That’s fine, but that is the reason why there aren’t videos on social media about him; singles aren’t all that fun. What is still going on at the same clip is his base running (good), and his fielding (bad). He stole another three bags this week and is 9-of-11 in those chances; he should easily surpass his season high of 16. His fielding at shortstop is, uh, less than stellar. Again, errors are not everything, but when you have nine in 28 games, maybe that position isn’t your thing. My guess is that he sticks with shortstop the rest of the year, and probably either moves to third and tries that out, or second to cut down on those errors.

MVP Ranks

José Rodríguez (49.7)
DJ Gladney (17.3)
James Beard (11.6)
Matthew Thompson (11.2)
Bryan Ramos (9.0)
Brandon Jenkins (7.3)

Cold Cat Ranks

Marcus Evey (-15.9)
Yoelvin Silven (-15.7)
Garvin Alston Jr. (-13.8)
Jared Kelley (-10.2)
Martin Carrasco (-8.5)
Rigo Fernández (-8.5)
Chase Solesky (-7.9)
Daniel Millwee (-7.6)
Trey Jeans (-7.5)

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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 James Beard, 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 (CF) Zack Granite, Birmingham Barons
Bench (LF) Blake Rutherford, Charlotte Knights
Bench (2B) Bryan Ramos, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
Bench (OF) Mikie Mahtook, Charlotte Knights

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

Right-Handed Starting Pitcher Johan Dominguez, Winston-Salem Dash
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Kade McClure, Birmingham Barons
Left-Handed Relief Pitcher Taylor Varnell, Winston-Salem Dash
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Ofriedy Gómez, Birmingham Barons
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Matthew Thompson, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Brandon Jenkins, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

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South Side Sox Writer Standings