White Sox Minor League Update: September 12, 2023

Just two teams remaining in the MiLB season — and because Tim Elko is on one of them, he keeps homering and driving in runs

Triple-A has a couple of weeks left in its 2023 campaign, and the story remains the same, as a big inning doomed the Knights to a loss. After taking a 2-1 lead in the sixth, the bullpen gave up four runs in the second. Two were from Mike Mayers, two from Edgar Navarro. Before that, Cristian Mena had an OK game. He had a lot of swings-and-misses (15), but still walked five in 4 2⁄3 innings. That has pretty much been his season; something always went wrong.

The offense couldn’t get it done overall; I mean, three runs in a game in Charlotte isn’t that great. But the Knights still took the later in a game that the bullpen blew. Maybe if one their four doubles had enough lift to get out, they would have put a crooked number on the board for a win. Erik González and Tyler Neslony had two of the four doubles on their day. They were the two batters to come away with two hits, with a walk for good measure. With six times on base between two players but one run scored, that puts into perspective the struggles with runners on base for the Knights.

José Rodríguez did single today, but overall, he’s still struggling. It has really been a season to forget, with three more strikeouts. Speaking of forgettable years, Oscar Colás was 0-for-5 in perhaps a pouty return to North Carolina.

Well hey, the Barons have a good day all around. Ky Bush looked better today, not perfect (a homer and three runs given up), but he was better in the strike zone today. The bullpen also wasn’t perfect, but despite walking four it had a scoreless outing. In a close game, the Barons truly got lucky their lead wasn’t blown. But hey, it worked out, and Tristan Stivors had his first Double-A save to close out the win.

Meanwhile, the lineup did just enough to win ... well, maybe not the lineup, just Tim Elko. This was a good Elko day, with three hits and four RBIs. Two of those runs came in the second inning, with his fifth Double-A homer. Elko would also drive in his 100th total run of the 2023 season with a single a couple innings later.

Now, it wasn’t actually just the Tim Elko show, as Wilfred Veras continued his Double-A renaissance as well. Veras two hits, one being a double — and he stole a base after that. Among other top prospects, Bryan Ramos reached first twice, while Colson Montgomery didn’t have a great day at the plate. Still, he found himself on base once, with a single.