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Stephen Piscotty had the fourth-longest blast in all of Triple-A on Saturday, but to be honest he seems more concerned that his homer hat doesn’t quite fit.
Laura Wolff/Charlotte Knights

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White Sox Minor League Update: July 29, 2023

Noah Schultz is back to his masterful self, piloting Kanny to a quickie win

By Brett Ballantini
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Last night, Salina dove into the Charlotte standing in the International League, and it’s REALLY BAD. I’m a little surprised I’ve been remiss, as that’s usually something me or Hamster would be filling you in on, taking stock of the system under a premise of it can’t be as bad as it seems but yes, in fact, it is as bad as it seems. Rinse, repeat.

So, in a follow-up to her Knights teaser on Friday, here’s a rundown of where everyone in the system stands.

MiLB doesn’t carry full-season standings, so I’m piecemealing first and second halves. But Charlotte is so bad I can say unequivocally it is 2023’s worst International League team; Syracuse is 15 under .500, Toledo 17, but at 22 under, the Knights take the cake. In the first half, they had a -103 run differential, worst in the IL; so far in just 25 games (4-21) in the second half, Charlotte has a -98 run differential. It’s just astounding how bad it is.

Birmingham is also the worst in the Southern League, with a 25-44 first half and now 8-17 in the second.

Winston-Salem came within a half-game of the playoffs in the first half (30-25), but that will be the high mark for White Sox affiliates this year, as the Dash are 10-18 in the second half.

Kannapolis is the sole club among six (seven, if we count the South Siders!) with a winning record.

The ACL White Sox are tied for the second-worst team in the circuit, and are just two games in front of one of the Dbacks ACL clubs for worst overall.

The DSL squad has an outside chance of being the second winning team in the White Sox org, at 17-20 and six games out of first place.

Oh, and if you translate the overall winning percentage (.435) to a 162-game season, that’s a 70-92 campaign, gulp.

But all that standings stuff don’t mean nothin’, because the Knights came up with a nice win tonight, snapping their seven-game losing streak. Not to say John Parke ever was ticketed for our MLB roster, but he has been somewhat abused by his Charlotte usage; if the White Sox system wasn’t starved for starters, perhaps Parke and his crafty arsenal could have had a shot at shifting to a Tanner Banks role, with shorter stints. Anyway, cap-tip to Parke for wearing it for the White Sox via Knights for two years now.

Parke’s best game of 2023 saw him completely baffling a very good Durham Bulls club — just two hard-hit balls in 77 pitches. He really earned that second win of the season.

The big blow, and the game-changer, was Stephen Piscotty’s three-run blast in the third, which flew 434 feet and was the fourth-longest batted ball in Triple-A on Saturday.

I mean, you know the Knights are hungry for second-half wins because ... He GOTTY IT!!!

In sadder news, Jimmy Lambert continues to struggle, and the notion that he’s automatically coming back to the South Side at some point in 2023 fades further and further in the rearview mirror.

Poll

Charlotte wins! Charlotte wins! Charlotte wins! Who’s your MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 81%
    John Parke: 5 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 5 K, HR, WIN, 2 HH, 14.0% WPA
    (27 votes)
  • 0%
    Stephen Piscotty: 1-for-5, R, HR, 3 RBI, HH, 3 K, 2 LOB, 21.3% WPA
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Erik González: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB, LOB, 8.3% WPA
    (0 votes)
  • 6%
    Adam Hackenberg: 1-for-4, 2B, 3 HH, 3 LOB
    (2 votes)
  • 0%
    Carlos Pérez: 2-for-4, R, 2B, HH
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Alex Colomé: IP, H, 2 K, 2 HH, 8-of-10 strikes
    (0 votes)
  • 12%
    Clint Frazier: 1-for-2, 2 R, 3 BB, SB
    (4 votes)
33 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Great Charlotte win, but still have to pick a Cold Cat.

This poll is closed

  • 29%
    Jimmy Lambert: 2 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 2 K, HR, 4 HH
    (8 votes)
  • 70%
    Kean Wong: 0-for-4, 2 K
    (19 votes)
27 votes total Vote Now

No shock here that Birmingham got Shucked, they’ve been the worst in the org for most of the season. The sobering development on Saturday was Ky Bush, acquired from the Angels earlier in the week, getting LIT UP in his first start for the Barons.

Birmingham, thanks to Bush’s poor start, was never in this game. At least Chase Plymell, up from W-S, had a OK debut in Double-A. And we got to see Edgar Quero’s first hit in the White Sox org:

Poll

Bham lost again. Who was the MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 86%
    Jason Matthews: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, K, 4 LOB, 15.7% WPA
    (31 votes)
  • 0%
    Ben Norman: 2-for-4, K
    (0 votes)
  • 8%
    Edgar Quero: 1-for-3, R, BB, K, 1-of-4 CS
    (3 votes)
  • 0%
    Yoelvín Silven: 1 2⁄3 IP, BB, K, 1-of-2 inherited runners scored
    (0 votes)
  • 5%
    Gil Luna Jr.: IP, 2 K on his birthday!
    (2 votes)
36 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Yet another Barons loss, who has to wear it as the Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 100%
    Ky Bush: 3 1⁄3 IP, 12 H, 7 ER, BB, 2 HR, E, pickoff at 1B, LOSS
    (38 votes)
  • 0%
    Terrell Tatum: 0-for-5, K, 2 LOB
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Alsander Womack: 0-for-4, K, 2 LOB
    (0 votes)
38 votes total Vote Now

Another really disappointing start from an up-and-comer in the system just a year ago. But don’t just blame Kohl Simas for a bad outing today, because Dylan Burns and Noah Owen shared the pain as well, surrendering 13 runs on the day, all earned.

It really seems like no one in the baseball world expected Tim Elko to be doing what he’s doing — least of all the White Sox, who let him languish in Low-A for an extended stretch. He has not turned tail at the challenge of High-A, either, with three hits today, all for extra bases. Elko is simply not supposed to be such a good hitter as to be lacing hits at a .330 clip. Double-A seemed a pipe dream for him in 2023, if ever; now, becoming a Baron is a foregone (and perhaps quick) conclusion.

Poll

Dash fell short, but who was least responsible for that as MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 97%
    Tim Elko: 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 9.4% WPA
    (40 votes)
  • 2%
    Wilfred Veras: 1-for-3, 2 R, HR, RBI, BB, K
    (1 vote)
41 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Plenty of blame to go around for this one, who was the Dash Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 18%
    Kohl Simas: 5 IP, 6 H, 6 R/3 ER, BB, 2 K, HR, HB, LOSS
    (6 votes)
  • 25%
    Dylan Burns: 2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
    (8 votes)
  • 31%
    Noah Owen: IP, 3 H, 3 ER, K, 2 HR
    (10 votes)
  • 6%
    Jacob Burke: 0-for-4, GIDP, K, 2 LOB
    (2 votes)
  • 18%
    Colson Montgomery: 0-for-4, K, E
    (6 votes)
  • 0%
    Shawn Goosenberg: 0-for-4, E, 3 LOB
    (0 votes)
32 votes total Vote Now

All hail Kannapolis, who snuck away with a quickie, five-inning win at home. The “big blow” of a five-inning surprise win (thanks, rain), as you can see above, came from Mario Camilletti grounding out and making the game official. Best Ground Out Ever.

Of course, throwing Noah Schultz for what nearly amounted to a complete game will help steal wins of any length. The 2022 first-rounder went a career-high four innings due to his efficiency (just 50 pitches!); if not his best pro outing, it was his tightest.

Poll

Sneaky win for Kanny today. Who was the MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 92%
    Noah Schultz: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 K, 34-of-50 strikes, 21.6% WPA
    (37 votes)
  • 0%
    Mario Camilletti: 0-for-3, 28.2% WPA mostly through simply grounding out
    (0 votes)
  • 5%
    Logan Glass, 2-for-2, SB
    (2 votes)
  • 2%
    Chris Lanzilli: 1-for-2, 2B, RBI, K, 8.4% WPA
    (1 vote)
  • 0%
    Jhoneiker Betancourt: 1-for-2, R, HR, RBI, LOB
    (0 votes)
40 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Sneaky pre-rain win for Kanny today. Who was the Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 36%
    Drake Logan: 0-for-2, 2 K
    (8 votes)
  • 9%
    Troy Claunch: 0-for-2, 0-for-1 CS
    (2 votes)
  • 13%
    Horacio Andujar: IP, 3 H, ER, K, 19-of 26 strikes, WIN
    (3 votes)
  • 40%
    Wilber Sánchez: 0-for-2, K, GIDP, 2 LOB
    (9 votes)
22 votes total Vote Now

The good news? The Complex Sox led, 6-0, at one point in this game. The bad? Well, the Dbacks ran up seven runs in the final two frames to win it. And that win came in spite of four errors, so execution wasn’t in the cards for our ACL boys (2-for-12 with RISP).

OK, there’s something else good here in AZ today, despite the loss, and that’s seeing Norge Vera back from the dead 60-day IL; we feared surgery and a loss for the season, but the once-top White Sox pitching prospect was the opener today, pitching a scoreless inning that features a no-BIP tripod of terror: K, BB, HB.

Really, what this came down to was a classic Mendez vs. Mendez situation in extras (seven-inning weekend game, pushed to an eighth); our Jesus Mendez faltered (blown save, loss, entering a tie game and throwing wild on a comebacker to miss the winning run at home; meanwhile AZ’s Teofilo Mendez threw two clean innings to earn the win.

Poll

Goodness, what a tough loss in extras for the Complex Sox. Who was the MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 71%
    Jacob González: 2-for-4, R, 3 RBI, LOB
    (15 votes)
  • 19%
    Norge Vera: IP, BB, K, HB, still alive
    (4 votes)
  • 0%
    Frander Veras: IP, 2 K, WP
    (0 votes)
  • 4%
    Chase Krogman: 2⁄3 IP, 2 K
    (1 vote)
  • 4%
    Alvaro Agüero: 2-for-3, 2B, R, LOB
    (1 vote)
21 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Tough loss in extras for the Complex Sox. Who was the Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 78%
    Mark McLaughlin: 3 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, WP
    (11 votes)
  • 7%
    Jesus Mendez: 1 1⁄3 IP, H, R/0 ER, BB, K, LOSS, BS, throwing E scored the GW run
    (1 vote)
  • 14%
    Calvin Harris: 0-for-4, R, K, 3 LOB, 0-for-3 CS
    (2 votes)
  • 0%
    Arnold Prado: 0-for-4, 3 LOB
    (0 votes)
14 votes total Vote Now

Tomorrow morning (hell, as I am writing now, probably) is the DSL All-Star Game. Surely that game will feature at least the DSL Sox’s breakout catcher Stiven Flores, just 17 years old and hitting .409 through 26 games. Darren Black will have the ASG deets for you tomorrow, if there is White Sox participation.

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