White Sox Minor League Update: May 9, 2024

Gonzalez & Galanie lead their teams to W’s, Wilfred Veras flashes his elite power, and other storylines from the farm!

Gwinnett Stripers 2, Charlotte Knights 1 (Gameday Box) (Statcast Box)
If you love pitching and defense, reader, this was the game for you! Well, at least partially. Despite the modest final score in this matchup, both teams combined to smack 12 hits, seven of which were recorded by our Knights!

Catcher/1B Carlos Pérez, getting the nod at DH and batting third, notched two of the seven Knights hits to push his season batting average up to a terrific .300. It’s been a strong start for Pérez in Triple-A despite getting the big DFA this past offseason. Wouldn’t we rather see Pérez behind the plate than Martín Maldonado?

On the mound, starter Nick Nastrini was money in this one. The 24-year-old righty went 6 2⁄3 frames, allowing just one run on three hits and fanning six. He’d exit with the game tied and be left with a no-decision on the night.

Infielder Angelo Castellano, who hit 21 homers with the Omaha Storm Chasers last year, was responsible for the lone run for the Knights tonight:

While Charlotte took the L in this one, there were a fair few impressive individual performances that merit consideration when you, the reader, are deciding who to give postgame honors to!

Pensacola Blue Wahoos 5, Birmingham Barons 4 (10 innings) (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
It’s never easy to lose in walk-off fashion. That was the misfortune suffered by our Birmingham Barons after 10 innings of play.

Left hander Jake Eder was on the mound for the Barons to start this one off in Pensacola. The former Marlins top prospect tossed five strong frames, allowing just one run on six hits while fanning another six. His season-long ERA sits at a mediocre 4.60, but strong mound work of late could merit the talented lefty a call-up sooner rather than later.

On the offensive side of the ball leadoff batter Terrell Tatum was in strong form, notching two hits and driving in one run from the top of the order. New Zealand’s own Jason Matthews, getting the nod at third, recorded the only other multi-hit performance for Birmingham. He added some pizzaz with some fancy glove work as well:

Speaking of pizzaz, Wilfred Veras hit a ball a country mile, into the Pensacola bay.

The 21-year-old Veras has done nothing but mash at every level of the White Sox system. So far in Double-A, he’s rocking a phenomenal .337/.352/.558 triple slash, good for on OPS of .910, highest on the Barons.

So, while the system endured yet another loss, there’s still plenty of cause for optimism from Birmingham. Let’s give out individual honors, reader.

Winston-Salem Dash 6, Asheville Tourists 5 (Gameday Box) (Statcast Box)
Finally! A win on the farm! And in walk-off fashion, no less!

The boys from Winston-Salem won the hit column rather convincingly in this one, tallying 13 knocks compared to Ashville’s nine. Five Dash players notched multi-hit performances in this one. The quintet of Jacob Gonzalez, DJ Gladney, Bryce Willits, Wes Kath, and Chris Lanzilli each recorded a pair of hits, with Gonzalez tallying the only XBH of the five.

Gonzalez just continues to mash High-A pitching, and should be bound for Birmingham when the next round of in-season promotions come around. On the year, the 2023 first-rounder is sporting a healthy .306/.409/.463 slash.

On the mound, starter Peyton Pallette continued his up-and-down season with a downer outing. He would go just three innings, allowing three runs on four hits while walking two and striking out three. Pallette’s progress has seemed to stall a bit in High-A, as he sports an unsightly 6.87 ERA.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 7, Delmarva Shorebirds 4 (Gameday Box) (Statcast Box)
Starter Aldrin Batista, who has been one of the system’s top performers in 2024, suffered a rare weak start on the mound in this one. He still ate up 5 1⁄3 innings, but allowed four earned runs on six hits while issuing two walks and fanning four. Even with four runs in five frames tonight, his season ERA in Kannapolis sits at a sterling 2.45.

Offensively, two Ballers batters recorded three-hit nights, neither of them being a surprise. Ryan Galanie and Caden Connor each continue to destroy pitching at the Low-A level. The former sports a .959 OPS on the young season, while the latter is no slouch, at .803.

Cleanup hitter Eddie Park also notched a multi-hit night with a couple of knocks, including a triple and two RBIs.

All in all, Kanny’s offensive machine was in fine form today. It was backed up by one of the best bullpens in Low-A level en route to a satisfying W. Let’s dole out the hardware, readers!

ACL Brewers 8, ACL White Sox 7 (Gameday box)
Games in Arizona can be wild, often ending early or scheduled for only seven innings as a matter of course. This one at Camelback Ranch will likely stand as 2024’s weirdest, as the Complex Sox fell behind, 6-0, rallied to cut the lead in half, fell behind again by five, and ended up losing by one run.

South Side Sox pal Jerry Espinoza sorta sums it up here, with this series of tweets:

Máximo Martinez, highly-touted by SSS in our prospect ranks as the gem of the deal last summer than also netted the White Sox Aldrin Batista, finally made his debut for the org ... and it was one he hopes to erase from memory, as we coughed up six earned runs without even being able to get out of the first inning.

It was a miracle on a number of levels that the ACL Sox were able to get back into this one, especially given their disheartening 17 strikeouts piled up by the end of the game. But you’ll seem some interesting details listed in the poll below.

Another oddity about this game was the cannon flashed by right fielder George Wolkow. While four strikeouts in five trips to the plate indicate a longer ACL stay may be necessary for the bonus baby, the standout threw out not one but two Brewers at home plate tonight.