White Sox Minor League Update: May 24, 2024

Jared Walsh impresses our staff photographer, while, no offense to Bham, but DREW THORPE HAS NOTHING LEFT TO PROVE

Nashville Sounds 4, Charlotte Knights 3 (Gameday Box) (Statcast Box)
Offense has proven hard to come by for the Knights as of late. Your author was in Nashville snapping photos of this matchup, and unlike the past few days, the weather was simply perfect! However, much like the last few days, the Knights didn’t hit much, and came up short against the Sounds.

All of Charlotte’s scoring was courtesy of former Los Angeles Disneyland Angels of Anaheim Orange County first sacker, Jared Walsh. Walsh belted two longballs that drove in all three runs for the Knights. The gauntlet photo that serves as the lead photo for this recap was taken shortly after the second bomb.

Walsh’s firepower was largely the only story of the night. Knights starter Johan Domínguez struggled with command, but still went 4 2⁄3 respectable innings. He fanned six, allowed three runs, and walked two. Johan was not in peak form, but a lot of this Knights team isn’t quite playing up to expectations right now. Despite all of that, we need to crown a silver lining for tonight’s matchup in Hit City.

Birmingham Barons 7, Biloxi Shuckers 2 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
OK, why is Drew Thorpe still in Double-A? What does this young top prospect have to prove against hitters who are obviously fundamentally outmatched by his stuff? These are questions I ask myself after seeing that Thorpe pitched six innings of one-run ball in this one, nabbing the win (his seventh, 7-1 record), and lowering his season ERA to 1.50.

Again, I ask you. What is left to prove for Thorpe at Double-A?

On the offensive side of things, 2023 first-rounder Jacob Gonzalez continues to be up to the challenge of hitting pitching at the Double-A level.

Over a four-game sample at Double-A, Gonzalez has managed a .474/.476/1.213 triple slash with two doubles, a homer, and nine hits. There are few (if any) hitters in the organization hotter than Gonzalez at the moment.

Brooks Baldwin tallied a couple of knocks and showcased his elite eye at the plate with a walk, as well. Baldwin’s season OPS at Double-A stands at a somewhat decent .933.

Surprisingly enough, Arkansas Razorbacks alumni Michael Turner accounted for more than a quarter of Birmingham’s 11 hits in this one. He tallied three knocks, including a double, and scored twice.

Birmingham continues to be must-watch baseball within the White Sox system, with several top performers clearly outperforming their peers and competition at the Double-A level. Let’s recognize ONE of those performers now.

Bowling Green Hot Rods 2, Winston-Salem Dash 0 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Phew, you can do this Salina. Be impartial. Nobody reading this cares that you’re the photographer for the Hot Rods. You’re writing for the White Sox system, so act like it.

Ahem. Pep talk aside, Winston-Salem was shut out in this one by a trio of sharp Hot Rods pitchers, not that ... not that I care about them or their success or anything. This young Dash ballclub would manage just four hits on the night, two courtesy of resurgent Wes Kath, and one each for newcomers Eddie Park and Jordan Sprinkle.

On the mound, starting pitcher Juan Carela turned in another stong start, going six innings while allowing two earned runs on four hits and fanning two Hot Rods. He walked four. While he obviously didn’t have his best stuff in this one, Carela has a season ERA of 3.15 and could be a prime promotion candidate if and when the duo of Ky Bush/Drew Thorpe get promoted from Double-A. And if the whole goddang rotation in Bham just gets sent to Charlotte, as they deserve to be, that will just mean more locker room space for Carela once he gets to Alabama.

Tonight’s matchup wasn’t anything to write home about for the boys from Winston-Salem. Nevertheless, individual honors are as inevitable as an Oscar Colás demotion or a Martín Maldonado strikeout. You know what to do, reader.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers at Augusta GreenJackets (PPD, rain, rescheduled as a straight doubleheader on Saturday)

ACL D-backs 9, ACL White Sox 4 (Gameday Box)
The Complex Sox are on what you’d call a skid over the past week or so, turning the relative bounty and first-place positioning of 6-4 into 6-8 faster than you can say George Wolkow should be in Kannapolis. Friday’s laffer vs. the AZ ACLs pushed the D-backs farther into first place and a tie for the best club in Arizona, along with the Reds.

But this recap is about the Complex Sox, and on that count Jeremy González started and fell short, giving up a triple and a sac fly run faster than you can say it was a crisp 95° at first pitch tonight. JG coughed up another three runs, at least one in every frame he hung, digging a hole for his hitters that they would not claw out of.

Carlos Hinestroza, pitching in his fifth game and now seeing action in 36% of Complex Sox action this year, took the ninth and was clean.

Now, let’s talk about something not as clean, and that’s the crazy lead item on the ACL web site. Admittedly, the rookie league websites covering both the ACL and DSL are not exactly whip-smart with info and real-time updates, so it wasn’t a shock to see Luis Robert Jr.’s return game on Tuesday as the lead item on the home page. But the snark tucked into the caption/copy was:

Robert led off tonight and grounded back to the pitcher in his first at-bat, walked in the second and grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the fourth.