White Sox Minor League Weekly Update: June 20-26, 2022

Charlotte Knights

Romy González: (Did not play last week)
Micker Adolfo: .288/.235/.250 — 1 BB, 7 K, 2 R, 2 RBI
Yolbert Sánchez: .200/.213/.200 — 1 BB, 9 K, 1 R, 1 RBI
Carlos Pérez: .278/.409/.278 — 4 BB, 3 K, 1 R
Blake Rutherford: .333/.333/.524 — 0 BB, 7 K, 3 R, 3 RBI **Weekly MVP**
Bennett Sousa: 2 IP, 4.50 ERA, 0 BB, 3 K
Kade McClure: 2 ²⁄₃ IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 BB, 2 K
Davis Martin: 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 BB, 9 K

It was a very bad week for Charlotte. They were shut out three straight times, and managed only one win in six games. Blake Rutherford was really one of the few bright spots and even then, he did not hit a homer or even work a walk. Still, a .333 batting average at the end of the day is still impressive. That batting average was thanks to two three-hit days, one to open the week and one to close it out. Rutherford started out the year really well, but the walk rate eventually regressed to what it was last year, and it’s a similar story with his power numbers; Rutherford’s ISO is just 13 points more than what it was last year. It certainly explains why Adam Haseley is still on the 40-man roster and will likely get more opportunities than Rutherford for the season. Hell, Josh Harrison is getting looks in the outfield over Rutherford.

Birmingham Barons

José Rodríguez: .385/.385/.385 — 0 BB, 2 K, 2 R, 6 RBI, 5 SB
Lenyn Sosa: (Promoted to MLB)
Yoelqui Céspedes: .250/.429/.250 — 3 BB, 5 K, 3 R
Tyler Neslony: .333/.462/.571 — 1 HR, 5 BB, 5 K, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 SB **Weekly MVP**
Jason Bilous: 5 IP, 3.60 ERA, 3 BB, 7 K
Sean Burke: 4 IP, 15.75 ERA, 1 BB, 3 K
Caleb Freeman: (Did not pitch last week)

Tyler Neslony gets the MVP again after another stellar offensive performance, this one more about his patience at the plate with five walks and strikeouts — not bad, on both ends. However, since we did go over him last week and he is 28 and in Double-A, let’s talk promotions. Lenyn Sosa got the call last week to take over for Danny Mendick instead of Yolbert Sánchez, which is a sentence that nobody thought they would say in February. If you did, then I don’t believe you.

Even so, the most unbelievable aspect is the comments from Tony La Russa:

It is pure nonsense to bring up Lenyn Sosa for him to be a temporary player, because it wastes an option. Plus, the Sox had Sánchez to call up if the roster needed more of a defensive replacement role. Hopefully the right thing is done and Leury García is on his way out to keep Sosa in MLB — but we know it won't happen.

Winston-Salem Dash

Oscar Colás: .522/.577/.739 — 1 HR, 3 BB, 1 K, 4 R, 4 RBI **Weekly MVP**
Bryan Ramos: .143/.294/.143 — 3 BB, 3 K, 2 R, 1 RBI
Colson Montgomery: High-A: .364/.462/.636 — 1 HR, 2 BB, 0 K, 3 R, 2 RBI
Low-A: .462/.533/.462 — 1 BB, 2 K, 1 R, 3 RBI
Luis Míeses: .190/.217/.217 — 0 BB, 2 K, 2 R, 5 RBI
Terrell Tatum: (Did not play last week)
Duke Ellis: .333/.385/.542 — 1 HR, 2 BB, 7 K, 4 R, 3 RBI, 4 SB
Drew Dalquist: 9 ¹⁄₃ IP, 3.86 ERA, 2 BB, 11 K
Matthew Thompson: 4 IP, 6.75 ERA, 3 BB, 3 K
Cristian Mena: 5 IP, 1.80 ERA, 4 BB, 2 K

Doesn’t seeing Oscar Colás drive in Colson Montgomery just make you happy? Speaking of promotions, Montgomery finally got his well-deserved call up to High-A and continued to reach base, his streak is now at 35 straight games on base. Cristian Mena also got a promotion from Kannapolis, and had a very good first start with the Dash. Two promising young players? That’s a bit different than a normal White Sox farm system.

On a different front, MVP Colás is still in Winston-Salem, for whatever reason (and at this point, it is not a good one). Since coming back from an injury, Colás is slashing .319/.372/.511 for a 136 wRC+. The plate discipline has been pretty much the same, with the strikeouts down about 1% and the walks right at the normal pace. This past week everything seemed to go right, for a 1.316 OPS. Colás is 23, so he probably would be in Double-A already if he had played in the White Sox system last year, but the Sox seem to be taking it pretty slow with their top prospects. Colás has proven he deserves it, though. Time to bring him to Birmingham.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Wes Kath: .250/.310/.385 — 1 HR, 3 BB, 11 K, 2 R, 3 RBI
Wilfred Veras: .217/.333/.652 — 3 HR, 4 BB, 7 K, 8 R, 5 RBI
Colby Smelley: .500/.667/.667 — 5 BB, 2 K, 3 R, 1 RBI **Weekly MVP**
Jared Kelley: 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 BB, 3 K
Norge Vera: 2 ²⁄₃ IP, 3.37 ERA, 1 BB, 1 K
Kohl Simas: (Did not pitch last week)

Colby Smelley is not a player that makes the list often, but when he does, it means he had another breakout offensive week. This time, he reached base in two-thirds of his plate appearances over four games. So, it wasn’t just a one- or two-game performance, no, Smelley reached in 11-of-18 times he went to the plate. The DH has had a very good offensive year, with a 126 wRC+ really because of a higher BABIP (.373) and a walk rate near 12%. He is just an on-base machine, with an OBP at .387 on the year. Smelley does not show much pop, as his .129 ISO comes more from his 14 doubles than his two homers. The bad thing is that he was drafted out of college to be a catcher, but if you are in Low-A and playing 42 of 48 games in the DH spot, you probably are pretty bad defensively. Smelley had three errors in the six games he’s caught in 2022; while that alone does not tell the story, 42 games at DH says enough.

ACL White Sox

Victor Quezada: .200/.250/.600 — 2 HR, 1 BB, 10 K, 4 R, 3 RBI
Manuel Guariman: 0-for-3, 0 BB, 2 K (two games played)
Dario Borrero: .333/.400/.444 — 2 BB, 5 K, 1 R, 2 RBI
Dylan Burns: 11 ¹⁄₃ IP, 1.59 ERA, 0 BB, 21 K **Weekly MVP**
Yohemy Nolasco: 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 BB, 2 K

DSL White Sox

Erick Hernández: .267/.353/.333 — 2 BB, 3 K, 4 R
Loidel Chapelli Jr.: .318/.423/.636 — 2 HR, 4 BB, 4 K, 4 R, 5 RBI
Guillermo Rodríguez: .235/.316/.412 — 1 HR, 2 BB, 3 K, 3 R, 4 RBI, 1 SB
Ryan Burrowes: .368/.435/.684 — 1 HR, 3 BB, 2 K, 4 R, 3 RBI **Weekly MVP**
Marcelo Valladares: (Did not pitch)