White Sox Minor League Weekly Update: June 6-12

Charlotte Knights

Romy González: .200/.273/.400 — 1 HR, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 R, 2 RBI,
Micker Adolfo: .167/.211/.389 — 1 HR, 1 BB, 6 K, 5 R
Yolbert Sánchez: .286/.318/.286 — 1 BB, 2 K, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB
Adam Haseley: .412/.522/.882 — 1 HR, 5 BB, 4 K, 6 R, 7 RBI, 1 SB **Weekly MVP**
Gavin Sheets: .000/.000/.000 - 0 BB, 2 K
Carlos Pérez: .333/.250/.118 — 0 BB, 1 K, 1 R, 4 RBI
Kade McClure: 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 BB, 3 K

OK fine, Adam Haseley, we are paying attention now. For the past three weeks, Haseley has slashed .381/.452/.730 for a 205 wRC+. He is mostly doing this thanks to a surge in power and BABIP. His plate approach has hardly changed, though he is walking 4% more often compared to earlier this season. Haseley probably would not be having as good a year if he was in MLB — he does have 121 career games with an 82 wRC+ — but there is always the chance that he really has improved. The problem for Haseley is that there is currently no spot for him. He should not play over Robert, of course, but Vaughn has been good all season and Pollock is starting to find his groove. Jake Burger has also proved he should play every day at DH. Maybe if Burger or Moncada could or would play second, Haseley could slot in, but that is not happening. All Haseley can do is continue to mash with Charlotte and come up after an injury; he should be the first position player up if the White Sox need any position player but catcher.

Birmingham Barons

José Rodríguez: .091/.167/.091 — 2 BB, 5 K, 2 R, 1 RBI
Lenyn Sosa: .333/.407/.619 — 2 HR, 4 BB, 2 K, 6 RBI **Weekly MVP**
Yoelqui Céspedes: .136/.240/.227 — 1 BB, 10 K, 4 R, 2 RBI
Jason Bilous: 8 ²⁄₃ IP, 6.23 ERA, 5 BB, 13 K
Sean Burke: (Did not pitch last week)
Caleb Freeman: (Did not pitch last week)

Another retread MVP forces another question you will see over and over again: Why is Lenyn Sosa in Birmingham? He has a 148 wRC+ and is still hitting homers at an unbelievable rate — half of them at Regions Field in Birmingham, of all places. Seriously, it is June, and his 13 homers so far this year are a career (and 2022 organizational) high. He has only played 55 games! There is a logjam, if you will, with the Knights, but at some point the best players just need to get promoted. Though 22 would be young for Triple-A, there is a clear need at second for Chicago, and Sosa could slot in by the stretch run if he proves this breakout with the bat is not a fluke at a higher level. At the very least, even if the power does not hold (a .230 ISO would have been a ridiculous thing to project for Sosa in the offseason), his plate approach is so much better. Sosa’s strikeouts have decreased by 10% while the walks are up around 4%. That is a huge positive swing. He is a different hitter, and more importantly, a better one.

Winston-Salem Dash

Oscar Colás: .400/.464/.600 — 1 HR, 3 BB, 7 K, 6 R, 5 RBI
Bryan Ramos: .238/.407/.429 — 1 HR, 6 BB, 4 K, 4 R, 5 RBI
Luis Míeses: .261/.346/.478 — 1 HR, 3 BB, 3 K, 3 R, 7 RBI
Terrell Tatum: .357/.550/.500 — 6 BB, 4 K, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB
Duke Ellis: .381/.435/.810 — 2 HR, 2 BB, 7 K, 7 R, 1 SB **Weekly MVP**
Adam Hackenberg: .357/.471/.429 — 2 BB, 2 K
Drew Dalquist: 3 IP, 3.00 ERA, 3 BB, 2 K
Matthew Thompson: 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1 BB, 8 K

Duke Ellis is another promotable player, although it’s not as obvious a case as Sosa and Haseley. Ellis still has unknown potential, but that is more because he is 24 and playing in High-A. He should be in Birmingham to confirm whether the Sox really found an undrafted free agent to pay attention to. We all know he is a speedster who is going to steal a lot of bases. In 48 games in 2022, he has 22 steals in 24 tries — fast and effective. Surprisingly, he does not have a triple yet in 121 MiLB games. Though a 23.4% K-rate is a little high, the walks and Ks are moving in positive directions compared to last year. Hopefully that trend continues, but there are still some negatives: A .404 BABIP is unsustainable and a near-54% ground ball rate with a falling fly ball rate is not very good, even if he is fast and can get a few more infield hits than the average player.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Colson Montgomery: .278/.381/.500 — 1 HR, 2 BB, 6 K, 2 R, 2 RBI
Wes Kath: .227/.227/.455 — 1 HR, 0 BB, 9 K, 4 RBI
Wilfred Veras: .111/.158/.278 — 1 HR, 1 BB, 6 K, 2 R, 3 RBI
Jared Kelley: 3 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1 BB, 6 K
Cristian Mena: 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 BB, 8 K
Kohl Simas: (Did not pitch last week)
Tommy Sommer: 9 ²⁄₃ IP, 0.00 ERA, 4 BB, 13 K **Weekly MVP**

Tommy Sommer is probably not a major leaguer, but he has been very productive in the minors since he was drafted in the 10th round last year. He had a 2.16 ERA in the ACL and currently has a 3.13 ERA in Kannapolis after 9 ²⁄₃ shutout innings last week. He does have a higher K-rate (29.1%) which helps lessen the increase in walks to 10.9% right now. Sommer probably does deserve a promotion at this point, but it is not a priority to find out what he is right now. Sommer does not throw high 90s and quite frankly, the $20,000 draft bonus he received indicates how highly the Sox brass thinks of him. Still, softer-tossing lefties who are afterthoughts are what the Sox love, so maybe he can force the issue. But Sommer will need to continue this in High-A before more people take notice.

ACL White Sox

Victor Quezada: .333/.500/.667 - 1 BB, 1 K, 2 R
Manuel Guariman: .000/.600/.000 - 3 BB, 1 K, 1 R
Dario Borrero: .462/.500/.462 - 1 BB, 3 K, 1 R, 2 RBI **Weekly MVP**
Yohemy Nolasco: 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 BB, 2 K

DSL White Sox

Erick Hernández: .444/.545/.556 - 3 BB, 2 K, 3 R, 2 RBI, 3 SB **Weekly MVP**
Loidel Chapelli Jr.: 2-for-4, 1 BB, 0 K, 2 R, 1 RBI (One game played)
Guillermo Rodríguez: .375/.44/.375 - 1 BB, 1 K, 5 R, 2 RBI, 4 SB
Ryan Burrowes: .385/.526/.462 - 2 BB, 2 K, 3 R, 4 RBI, 1 SB
Marcelo Valladares: (Did not pitch)