White Sox Minor League Update: April 23, 2024

A four-game farm SWEEP!!

Charlotte Knights 5, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 4 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Brad Keller made his third start for the Knights and was efficient for most his 5 2⁄3 innings. He leaned on his fastball the most, and it ended up being his most efficient pitch (41% CSW) while striking out seven batters. Keller gave up just two runs on five hits, and walked one — the two runs coming in the third from a double and fielder’s choice RBI.

Lenyn Sosa was sent back down to Charlotte on Monday, but was the true offensive bright spot for the Knights in his first game back in Triple-A. He went 4-for-5 from the leadoff spot, including not one but TWO home runs, one being a three-run, go-ahead bomb in the top of the ninth. Sosa also batted in four of the five Charlotte runs, with the fifth being a Colson Montgomery ground out RBI in the fifth. I wish we would see this version of Sosa on the White Sox.

Fraser Ellard was the soft spot of the bullpen, giving up the other two runs to Lehigh Valley in relief of Keller, but Charlotte held on for Justin Anderson to close it out in the ninth.

Birmingham Barons 3, Chattanooga Lookouts 2 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
The Barons jumped ahead early in the first inning after an Edgar Quero RBI double, and added one more each in the second and fifth, stemming from a Brooks Baldwin single and a Terrell Tatum solo shot.

There wasn’t a whole lot of offense on either side today, but both teams walked a combined 10 times; there was a lot of traffic, but five runs was all we got.

Ky Bush had another great outing, improving his ERA down to 1.65. Bush gave up four hits and walked four batters, but his seven Ks balanced him out for his third solid start. And we had one of our minors writers on hand to validate:

Juan Then struggled in the seventh, giving up the Lookouts’ only two runs, but the rest of the bullpen was able to help redeem him and keep Chattanooga at bay. Gil Luna pocketed the save.

Winston-Salem Dash 8, Rome Emperors 8 (10 innings) (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Tanner McDougal made his third start, and was actually pretty efficient by giving up just three runs on five hits. This performance was plenty for the Dash offense to work with, especially given two strong bullpen innings from Garrett Schoenle and Cole Duensing that kept them in the game ... at least through the seventh.

In an offensive battle that traded leads back and forth throughout, the Dash pulled out the win on a walk-off single from Jordan Sprinkle in the bottom of the 10th. The bullpen owes Sprinkle for bailing them out after blowing a four-run lead in the top of the eighth.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 13, Charleston RiverDogs 3 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Drew McDaniel had the start for Kannapolis, and he was about as dominant as the Ballers’ bats were. In six innings he gave up one hit, one run (a solo home run), one walk, and struck out eight Charleston batters.

Luke Bell gave up two runs after coming in for McDaniel, but the rest of the bullpen completed the game without a single blemish to confirm the blowout win.

The Cannon Ballers exploded offensively, scoring as many runs as they had hits. Alberston Asigen was on fire, going 3-for-4 with a triple, four RBIs, a stolen base, two runs, and one walk to cap it all off. Arxy Hernández, Luis Pineda, and Juan Gonzalez all added another two RBIs each on five combined hits.