White Sox Weekly Minor League Update: August 1-7, 2022

Charlotte Knights

Romy González: (did not play last month, began ACL rehab this week)
Yolbert Sánchez: .294/.294/.294 — 0 BB, 1 K, 2 R
Jake Burger: .250/.333/.750 — 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 K, 5 R, 4 RBI
Lenyn Sosa: .500/.583/1.100 — 2 HR, 2 BB, 0 K, 3 R, 4 RBI (in MLB currently) **Weekly MVP**
Jason Bilous: 2 ²⁄₃ IP, 3.37 ERA, 3 BB, 3 K (promoted to Charlotte at end of July)
Kade McClure: 10 ¹⁄₃ IP, 4.35 ERA, 3 BB, 14 K

Lenyn Sosa is back with the White Sox for a short stint while Tim Anderson misses two games on suspension. Sosa probably should be in MLB for good, but the Sox roster construction is weird, and Josh Harrison is playing fine right now. Sosa also has not been as good in Triple-A, but that did turn around this week, with a two-homer game and a .500 batting average. What is different right now is Sosa’s power has gone down compared to Double-A, while strikeouts are also up almost 7%. It is the best pitching Sosa has ever seen, and at 22, he is a decent amount younger than the normal hitter in Triple-A. Whatever happens here, whether he makes it to MLB again in September as one of the two extra roster players or Sos rides out the year with Charlotte, he’s a real prospect now. Keep an eye on him; he could be at second next year for Chicago.

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Birmingham Barons

José Rodríguez: .250/.379/.667 — 3 HR, 5 BB, 5 K, 4 R, 4 RBI, 1 SB
Yoelqui Céspedes: .318/.422/.636 — 2 HR, 2 BB, 5 K, 4 R, 2 SB **Weekly MVP**
Oscar Colás: .238/.333/.381 — 1 HR, 2 BB, 3 K, 3 R, 5 RBI
Sean Burke: 3 ¹⁄₃ IP, 2.70 ERA, 2 BB, 8 K
Matthew Thompson: 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 8.31 ERA, 1 BB, 6 K
Caleb Freeman: (started rehab assignment in the ACL on July 29)

Céspedes had a great week, yes, he hit two homers and hit better than .300, but he struck out just fewer than 20% of his plate appearances last week. That is what we are looking for to see if he can take the next step. Céspedes’ plate discipline is right around where he was with Winston-Salem last year which is fine, but a 6.1% BB-rate and a 27.7% K-rate still is not very good. Maybe he won’t be a player who walks close to 10% of the time, but Céspedes really needs to cut down on the strikeouts to be an option for the White Sox going forward. The power he is showing right now is good: a .188 ISO given his home games are in Birmingham is impressive. Power is probably is best attribute as a hitter, but Céspedes is also proving himself to be a pretty good defensive outfielder due to of his speed.

What might be becoming likely is that he projects as a fourth outfielder in MLB, who will get his at-bats against lefties and will fill in as a defensive replacement. The Sox and fans probably expected more, maybe because his name is Céspedes; but right now, there aren’t many actual outfielders on the South Side, so even just a fourth outfielder would be pretty valuable.

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Winston-Salem Dash

Bryan Ramos: .333/.348/.381 — 1 BB, 4 K, 3 R, 4 RBI
Colson Montgomery: .154/.313/.308 — 3 BB, 4 K, 1 R
Luis Míeses: .267/.313/.333 — 0 BB, 3 K
Duke Ellis: .286/.318/.429 — 1 BB, 6 K, 3 R, 1 RBI, 3 SB
Tyler Osik: .529/.550/1.059 — 2 HR, 1 BB, 3 K, 4 R, 5 RBI **Weekly MVP**
Norge Vera: (Did not pitch last week, just promoted to the Dash)
Drew Dalquist: 3 IP, 6.00 ERA, 3 BB, 2 K
Cristian Mena: 5 IP, 3.60 ERA, 1 BB, 7 K

Tyler Osik is not going to make it to the big leagues, but he could be a guy who survives in the minors for a long time. Right now, he is trying to learn how to be a catcher, but in truth he’s a DH. DHs at 25 in High-A are not legit prospects, but Osik does seem to have a good bat and that’s why he could stick around for a while, kind of like Yermín Mercedes. Osik hit for the cycle this week, which never really happens — especially for a guy like Osik, who hadn’t hit a triple since 2019. Once the 2022 draft class gets in the system, hopefully Osik gets moved to Birmingham to see if that bat is for real or not; Double-A is usually where you find out if a player is good enough. But don’t hold your breath; the Sox are taking a long time to get their new players into the system right now.

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Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Wes Kath: .200/.304/.400 — 1 HR, 3 BB, 12 K, 4 R, 3 RBI
Andy Atwood: .273/.429/.636 — 2 HR, 6 BB, 4 K, 6 R, 3 RBI **Weekly MVP**
Wilfred Veras: .286/.304/.429 — 1 BB, 7 K, 2 R, 4 RBI
Jared Kelley: (Did not pitch last week)
Kohl Simas: 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 9.64 ERA, 2 BB, 5 K

Andy Atwood is similar to Osik in that he looks to be a good bat right now, but he is 25 in Low-A so it is not a great read on the type of player he is. Right now, he is doing really well with good pop, a .253 ISO and even better plate discipline. Atwood has more walks (15) than strikeouts (12) in 103 plate appearances, so it isn’t that small of a sample size. It’s tough to imagine him as a guy to watch to solve the second base problem for the White Sox, but it was a good week and month for a guy that doesn’t get a lot of looks.

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ACL White Sox

Jordan Sprinkle: .429/.600/.429 — 2 BB, 0 K, 2 R (4th round pick, $452,900 bonus)
Jacob Burke: .333/.429/.667 — 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 R, 2 RBI (11th round pick, $225,000 bonus)
Drake Logan: 1-for-4, 0 BB, 0 K (19th round pick, $125,000 bonus)
Dario Borrero: .333/.333/.381 — 0 BB, 0 K, 1 R, 2 RBI
Romy González: .471/.526/1.176 — 4 HR, 1 BB, 2 K, 5 R, 10 RBI **Weekly MVP**
Brooks Baldwin: .286/.333/.357 — 1 BB, 4 K, 2 R (12th round pick, $125,000 bonus)
Caleb Freeman: 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1 BB, 3 K
Yohemy Nolasco: 4 IP, 2.25 ERA, 1 BB, 1 K
Ethan Hammerberg: 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 BB, 2 K (20th round pick, $100,000 bonus)

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DSL White Sox

Erick Hernández: .091/.091/.091 — 0 BB, 2 K, 4 R
Loidel Chapelli Jr.: .167/.286/.417 — 2 BB, 2 K, 4 R, 2 SB
Arnold Prado: .556/.667/.556 — 3 BB, 0 K, 1 RBI **Weekly MVP**
Guillermo Rodríguez: .273/.273/.455 — 0 BB, 2 K, 2 R, 1 RBI
Ryan Burrowes: .300/.300/.400 — 0 BB, 2 K, 1 R, 1 RBI
Marcelo Valladares: (Did not pitch last week)