South Side Sox on the Farm Podcast 22 — 2021 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Review

Darren Black talks with Brett Ballantini about the biggest disappointment in the White Sox system.

Finally, we come to the biggest disappointment in the White Sox system, great taste, no filling Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. Ballyhooed as the gem of the system this spring, the CBs fell flat almost immediately, and ended the year with an almost statistically-impossible -275 run differential. Seriously, in 119 games, Kannapolis was outscored by 275 runs — 2.31 runs per game!

Well, so what if our Low-A club opened a beautiful, new ballpark, with a new name and logo — and inexcusably flopped, at 40-79? There were prospects of note, and Darren Black and Brett Ballantini discuss them over 20-plus, fun-filled, commercial-free minutes:

• Have you read Darren’s season review piece? Well, it is live alongside this podcast, so go get yourself some.
• Let’s skip right past José Rodríguez, who started his incredible ascent in Kannapolis this season, and focus on mini-Popeye, Bryan Ramos — who in at least one sense is a more impressive prospect than Rodríguez
• The biggest surprise, at least among guys who came into the season with modest expectations (and/or came into the season not even playing in Kanny): Misael González
• Breaking down the triumvirate of talented starters (Matthew Thompson, Drew Dalquist, Jared Kelley), all who disappointed. What happened, and what is our reasonable level of hope for these three going forward?
• A brief review of season coverage records, as one of us is a good-luck charm, and one is not.
• And, a preview of coming attractions (yes, there are still two more Farm podcasts before the Rule 5 draft podcast, WOO HOO!)

Listen below, on our built-in Megaphone player:

or follow along with every episode at Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or wherever you consume your podcasts. Or, you can watch the podcast on the South Side Hit Pen YouTube channel.