White Sox Minor League Update: Aug. 3-9

It's a new month, which means it's time to look back at last month and see who made strides or lost steps at each of the full-season affiliates.

Charlotte Knights

Up: Micah Johnson. His bat, at least. He hit .347/.394/.474 with eight walks to just 10 strikeouts over 110 plate appearances. He stole five bases on seven attempts, which is better than his season rates (20-for-32), but still negligible.

Up: Andy Wilkins. He won the International League's Player of the Week twice, and so he won the Player of the Month. .431/.452/.872 with 12 homers and 10 doubles over 27 games.

Up: Marcus Semien. His first month back in the minors was a rough one, but he's back on track. .286/.377/.563 in July with 11 doubles, six homers and 16 walks to 22 strikeouts over 130 PA.

Up: Josh Phegley. Freebird erased an ugly June with a strong July as well -- .354/.377/.626 over 22 games.

Down: Matt Davidson: He's failed to hit .200 in three of his four months now, and the power wasn't there, either, as he hit just .171/.271/.295 over 27 games.

Steady: Carlos Sanchez and Jordan Danks. They're ready for their next shot. Erik Johnson could also fit in this group, but for a different reason.

Birmingham Barons

Up: Myles Jaye. His 4.66 ERA in July is inflated by one disaster start. In his three victories last month, he allowed one run each time over nine, six and eight innings. He doesn't strike out anybody still, but he's making progress.

Steady: Trayce Thompson, Rangel Ravelo and Kevan Smith. Their July lines are each representative of their entire seasons, more or less.

Winston-Salem Dash

Up: Tyler Danish. He's figuring High-A out, going 3-1 with a 1.10 ERA in July, with 27 strikeouts to nine walks and one home run allowed over 32⅔ innings.

Up: Cleuluis Rondon. Hit .269/.340/.376 during his first 27 games in the Carolina League. Throw in his defensive skills, and that'll play.

Up: James Dykstra. Earned a promotion from Kannaplis midway into July and held his own across three strarts, striking out 20 batters to just two walks over 20⅔ effective innings (2-0, 3.05 ERA).

Downish: Jacob May. He cooled off after a scorching June, but the good news is that his plate discipline spiked. He hit .232/.341/.420 with 19 walks in July, after drawing just 20 walks over the first three months combined.

Down: Keon Barnum. Also cooled off, hitting .265/.290/.382 and striking out 11 times (33) for every walk (three).

Down: J.B. Wendelken. A shift from starting might be in order, although his month (6.39 ERA, five innings per start) would look a lot worse had he not struck out 13 over seven scoreless innings on July 30.

Steady: Jason Coats, Courtney Hawkins and Keenyn Walker.

Kannapolis Intimidators

Up: Adam Engel. Hit. 284/.376/.517 out of the leadoff spot, although 34 strikeouts over 135 plate appearances isn't great.

Up: Brett Austin. The fifth-round pick hit .284/.359/.373 in his first month of pro ball. That seems reasonable.

Down: Trey Michalczewski. Another guy who was due to regress after a sensational June, Michalczewski hit .234/.301/.387 with 39 strikeouts over 124 plate appearances.

Steady: Thad Lowry and Andrew Mitchell.

Sunday's box scores will appear in the comments shortly.