White Sox Minor League Player of the Month (July 2023): Xavier Fernández

He earned a promotion to Triple-A after having a wRC+ of more than .200 for the month of July

Newly-Acquired Prospects

Korey Lee .283/.328/.406, 5 HR, 32 RBI, 37 R, 17 BB, 75 K (Triple-A)
Ky Bush 29 1⁄3 IP, 7.36 ERA, 15 BB, 36 K (Double-A)
Jake Eder 29 2⁄3 innings, 3.94 ERA, 16 BB, 38 K (Double-A)
Jordan Leasure 35 IP, 3.09 ERA, 16 BB, 56 K (Double-A)
Nick Nastrini 73 2⁄3 IP, 4.03 ERA, 37 BB,85 K (Double-A)
Edgar Quero .244/.382/.325, 3 HR, 37 RBI, 42 R, 56 BB, 55 K (Double-A)
Juan Carela 83 1⁄3 IP, 3.67 ERA, 32 BB, 109 K (High-A)

White Sox Minor League Player of the Month

Xavier Fernández
Triple-A 1-for-3, 0 BB, 1 K ▪️ Double-A .406/.479/.734, 5 HR, 11 R, 18 RBI, 8 BB, 16 K

Xavier Fernández certainly had a great month, and left July with a promotion and 1.190 OPS. He is a catcher, kind of, in a system now full of catchers in Double- and Triple-A, and his backup position is first. At 28, he really has three things going against him in this system. Maybe he is the new version of the Yermínator, as they both can certianly hit minor-league pitching. Fernández’s plate discipline has been very good this year (10% BB-rate and a 15% K-rate), so he might show a bit better in the majors, if he ever gets that chance. For now, he will be in a crowded catcher room in Charlotte and should play a lot of first and DH. Is he the most fun MVP pick? No, but he crushed the ball and hit better than .400 — that is MVP worthy.

Charlotte Knights

Sean Burke (IL)
Jimmy Lambert 11 IP, 4.09 ERA, 5 BB, 9 K (called back up to White Sox in early August)
Lenyn Sosa .220/.253/.418, 5 HR, 12 R, 14 RBI, 4 BB, 30 K
Yolbert Sánchez .361/.387/.417, 9 R, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 7 K
Adam Hackenberg Triple-A 1-for-4, 0 BB, 0 K (end of July call-up) ▪️ Double-A .275/.448/.451, 2 HR, 13 R, 7 RBI, 12 BB, 13 K

Yolbert Sánchez has been kind of an afterthought, but he had one of his really good months of just hitting the ball just past the infield for a single. He is notable more because of how poor a month it has been for Charlotte (just four wins). Lenyn Sosa figured to be the guy up after the Jake Burger trade; however, he didn’t do so well in July, so maybe the White Sox give Sánchez a shot here, especially if they DFA Elvis Andrus (which they should). Charlotte will hopefully get better with an influx of new prospects, but for now, they remain the afterthought team.

Birmingham Barons

Cristian Mena 24 2⁄3 IP, 5.11 ERA, 15 BB, 21 K:
Matt Thompson: 20 IP, 4.50 ERA, 16 BB, 13 K
Caleb Freeman (IL)
Jonathan Cannon Double-A 12 2⁄3 IP, 9.95 ERA, 8 BB, 10 K ▪️ High-A 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 BB, 1 K
Jared Kelley Double-A 3 2⁄3 IP, 24.55 ERA, 10 BB, 7 K ▪️ High-A 5 IP, 5.40 ERA, 2 BB, 4 K
Bryan Ramos .250/.379/.423, 2 HR, 10 R, 7 RBI, 6 BB, 15 K
José Rodríguez .293/.316/.507, 4 HR, 13 R, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 11 K, 6 SB
Yoelqui Céspedes .235/.298/.294, 1 HR, 8 R, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 26 K, 1 SB
Terrell Tatum .210/.356/.333, 2 HR, 11 R, 10 RBI, 17 BB, 29 K, 5 SB

Post-trade deadline, and plays a position that the Sox have never figured out? Hello José Rodríguez as White Sox second baseman! He was better this past month than Lenyn Sosa, but there has always been that pecking order between the two. Hopefully they both get time — at least an at-bat, in Rodríguez’s case. This past month, Rodríguez showed better bat-to-ball skills compared to earlier this year. He is slowly bringing his wRC+ to average, just like last season. The power has been there, carrying over from the last months of 2022, but the strikeouts are still high. The best part of July for Rodríguez was the dip in strikeouts compared to his season overall. It was back down to the near-14% K-rate that he needs to be successful, because he won’t reach base via walk enough. The results were there for a 111 wRC+ in July — not great, but still much better than his first two months of the year.

Winston-Salem Dash

Kohl Simas 23 2⁄3 IP, 4.56 ERA, 12 BB, 22 K
Norge Vera (60-day IL, is with the ACL for rehab)
Josimar Cousín 16 2⁄3 IP, 4.32 ERA, 4 BB, 16 K
Tyler Schweitzer High-A 9 2⁄3 IP, 7.45 ERA, 6 BB, 10 K ▪️ Low-A 10 1⁄3 IP, 6.10 ERA, 4 BB, 12 K
Loidel Chapelli Jr. .309/.400/.471, 3 HR, 11 R, 11 RBI, 10 BB, 15 K, 5 SB
Colson Montgomery .345/.537/.552, 3 HR, 15 R, 10 RBI, 20 BB, 15 K
Wilfred Veras .266/.317/.447, 5 HR, 17 R, 15 RBI, 5 BB, 26 K, 1 SB
Jacob Burke .329/.427/.451, 19 R, 8 RBI, 9 BB, 17 K, 5 SB

Quite a few top prospects did well this past month, here in Winston-Salem. Josimar Cousín, for all intents and purposes, did well enough and showed good control. Loidel Chapelli Jr. reached base at a 40% clip again, with some power. Wilfred Veras showed good pop, but still didn’t really reach base enough. Jacob Burke reached base almost every game, but it did appear to sap some pop with no homers (lots of other extra-base hits, though). None of them did as well as Colson Montgomery in his first month back.

Montgomery earned his return promotion to Birmingham after 17 games with the Dash. He left with a 1.088 OPS and five more walks than strikeouts; pretty much how he left off with Winston-Salem after last season. Now, Montgomery is healthy, he isn’t tired, and he’s back with the Barons. It will give a lot of Sox fans some hope, a little bit of hope, if he shows out in Double-A over the last two months and crushes it in the AFL. I believe Montgomery is a legit All-Star type of player, so Double-A and the AFL is the first step to proving it.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Noah Schultz 12 2⁄3 IP, 2.84 ERA, 1 BB, 13 K
Tanner McDougal 13 1⁄3 IP, 9.45 ERA, 5 BB, 12 K
Peyton Pallette 15 IP, 3.00 ERA, 8 BB, 17 K
Jordan Sprinkle (IL, rehabbing in ACL)
Brooks Baldwin .284/.398/.593, 7 HR, 18 R, 14 RBI, 15 BB, 15 K, 3 SB

Brooks Baldwin, wow, what a month. He hit seven homers in Low-A in July alone. As the video above says as well, he hit his first from the right side, too. The bat-to-ball skills were really good, with an average of better than .300 and fantastic plate discipline. Same number of strikeouts and walks, which is very cool. He was out for a while before this, but this is a type of month that gets you get promoted to High-A. Once the rookie class gets into full-season ball a bit more, maybe Baldwin will get his starts with the Dash. He deserves it, because a 127 wRC+ over 62 games shows good power and a fine approach at the plate. His issues are on defense, but he’s young and has enough athleticism to actually play a corner outfield position.

ACL White Sox

Jesus Mendez 6 2⁄3 IP, 6.75 ERA, 5 BB, 4 K
Ryan Burrowes .256/.289/.372, 1 HR, 7 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 13 K, 5 SB
Erick Hernández .111/.333/.111, 2 R, 6 BB, 6 K
Ronny Hernández .404/.492/.635, 1 HR, 11 R, 10 RBI, 8 BB, 12 K
Jacob González 3-for-16, 2 R, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K (Promoted to Low-A)
Calvin Harris 3-for-14, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K

DSL White Sox

Luis Reyes 16 IP, 5.62 ERA, 9 BB, 21 K
D’Angelo Tejada .311/.373/.378, 13 R, 7 RBI, 4 BB, 10 K, 1 SB
Abraham Nùñez Jr .290/.387/.371. 11 R, 12 RBI, 9 BB, 10 K, 4 SB
Rafael Álvarez .268/.436/.439, 1 HR, 13 R, 5 RBI, 8 BB, 12 K, 1 SB

White Sox Player of the Month (April 2023) Tim Elko, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
White Sox Player of the Month (May 2023) Connor McCullough, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
White Sox Player of the Month (June 2023) Tim Elko, Winston-Salem Dash
White Sox Player of the Month (July 2023) Xavier Fernández, Birmingham Barons