White Sox Minor League Player of the Week (June 5-11): Caberea Weaver

White Sox Minor League Player of the Week

Caberea Weaver .462/.533/.923, 2 HR, 4 R, 8 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 SB

We haven’t heard from Caberea Weaver in quite some time. He hasn’t really been good since his 2018 ACL days after getting drafted out of high school. He had a 112 wRC+ in those 50 games, but you could see where his struggles were, even at 18. He struck out way too much in rookie ball, near 30%. He didn’t show much pop, either. This season hasn’t been much different, but he is back in High-A after 55 games there in ’22. He had just a 45 wRC+ then, but after this fantastic week Caberea is one homer away from matching his High-A total from a year ago. It was a big run production and power week for Weaver, with two bombs and eight RBIs. The prospect luster, if there ever was much, is gone, and likely to stay gone. He just had a good week, and it certainly deserved the MVP.

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Charlotte Knights

Sean Burke 5 IP, 9.00 ERA, 3 BB, 3 K
Sammy Peralta 3 2⁄3 IP, 12.27 ERA, 2 BB, 4 K
Declan Cronin 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 BB, 2 K
Lenyn Sosa (IL)
Oscar Colás .222/.300/.222, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K

Charlotte didn’t have a very good week and one of the few players that did was Declan Cronin. With how bad the White Sox bullpen was over the weekend, Charlotte arms always seem enticing. Cronin has been doing well with the Knights this season, with his command getting back to what it was in the first half of last season, a walk rate just a tick short of 12%. That isn’t very good, but he did go four innings (three appearances) last week with no walks. He will need to string together more weeks of low walks to really get in the bullpen pecking order. Cronin has never been a high-strikeout pitcher; his K-rate is 18.6% right now, so getting those walks down is meaningful. His best stat of 2023 though, is only giving up one homer as a Charlotte Knight through 27 2⁄3 innings.

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Birmingham Barons

Cristian Mena 6 1⁄3 IP, 4.26 ERA, 2 BB, 9 K
Caleb Freeman (IL)
Tommy Sommer 7 IP, 1.29 ERA, 3 BB, 4 K
Adam Hackenberg .267/.313/.400, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K
Bryan Ramos .176/.333/.235, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 5 K
José Rodríguez .308/.308/.462, 2 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K, 3 SB
Yoelqui Céspedes .167/.286/.167, 3 R, 3 BB, 7 K, 1 SB

Birmingham didn’t have a great time of it either, but at least there was a clearer great performance in Tommy Sommer. It was a seven-inning, one-run start, which you don’t see much of in the minors these days. Sommer got a quick promotion from the Dash, after three starts there yielded a 0.75 ERA. He has struggled more in Double-A, but still sports a nice 3.69 ERA. The advanced stats are not as kind to this point due to big walk totals (13.7%) and lower K-rate (21.4%); there is only a 7.6% separation between the two numbers, and he’s allowing big hits, too. Sommer has given up seven homers in just 31 2⁄3 innings for the Barons, which is not very good at all. It is pretty surprising that he has a 3.69 ERA with all those poor stats, but he really is riding that 90.6% left-on-base rate every start. Maybe it continues, because his first three starts were really good.

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Winston-Salem Dash

Jonathan Cannon 5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 BB, 4 K
Jared Kelley 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 BB, 3 K
Kohl Simas 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 2 BB, 7 K
Norge Vera (IL)
Loidel Chapelli Jr. .118/.238/.176, 1 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K
Wes Kath .250/.400/.250, 3 R, 4 BB, 9 K, 1 SB
Colson Montgomery (IL)
Wilfred Veras .158/.200/.158, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 8 K
Terrell Tatum .143/.455/.143, 4 R, 7 BB, 4 K, 5 SB

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Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Shane Murphy 5 IP, 9.00 ERA, 1 BB, 5 K
Tanner McDougal 3 2⁄3 IP, 9.82 ERA, 2 BB, 4 K
Peyton Pallette 3 2⁄3 IP, 4.91 ERA, 2 BB, 4 K
Tyler Schweitzer 6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1 BB, 10 K
Jordan Sprinkle (only played one game)
Brooks Baldwin (IL)
Jacob Burke .385/.448/.423, 4 R, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 3 SB
Tim Elko .400/.464/.720, 2 HR, 6 R, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K

Surprise, surprise, Tim Elko had a good week. Seriously, what is he still doing in Low-A? Jacob Burke did really well, too. He now has a month’s worth of games under his belt with a 166 wRC+ and .352/.436/.489 slash line. The power isn’t here yet, with just has one homer in 24 games. Burke’s plate discipline is promising though. He has a 10% BB-rate with a 21% K-rate. Yes, that K-rate getting down more would be better, but an 11% difference between the two is good for a hitter.

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ACL White Sox

Josimar Cousin 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 BB, 0 K
Mark McLaughlin 2 1⁄3 IP, 7.71 ERA, 2 BB, 2 K
Ryan Burrowes .231/.474/.231, 1 R, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 SB
Erick Hernández .000/.091/.000, 0 BB, 3 K

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DSL White Sox

Luis Reyes 1 IP, 54.00 ERA, 6 BB, 3 K
D’Angelo Tejada .333/.444/.333, 5 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 2 SB
Abraham Nùñez Jr .500/.647/.917. 1 HR, 6 R, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 2 K, 3 SB
Rafael Álvarez .000/.611/.000, 4 R, 2 RBI, 9 BB, 1 K, 2 SB

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