White Sox Minor League Player of the Week (June 10-16): Wilmer Difo

The Knights and Cannon Ballers finished 3-3 to lead the way for the farm in an off-week

Charlotte Knights

Record 3-3 (last week), 28-40 (overall)

Knights Player of the Week

Wilmer Difo .421/.450/.737, 19 at-bats

Colson Montgomery .136/.269/.455, 22 at-bats
Bryan Ramos .095/.136/.095, 21 at-bats
Carlos Pérez .294/.294/.529, 17 at-bats
Mark Payton .250/.250/.458, 24 at-bats
Jared Walsh .250/.294/.688, 15 at-bats

Touki Toussaint 5 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Johan Domínguez 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 0 K (currently on IL)
Nick Nastrini 4 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 7 K
Cory Abbott 5 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Garrett Schoenle 3 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 4 K

The Knights took three of six against the Durham Bulls, and the highlight of the week was the combined no-hitter on Sunday. The Knights used seven pitchers during that game, and one of them was Garrett Schoenle, who pitched three fantastic innings in his (emergency-start) Triple-A debut.

While Schoenle deserves kudos for that performance, Wilmer Difo takes Player of the Week honors with his monstrous performance at the plate. Difo finished 8-for-21 with two homers, resulting in an incredible 1.187 OPS. This is Difo’s second weekly award of the season, and he is now slashing .331/.396/.463 in 37 games with the Knights. Difo, 32, has not played in the majors since 2022, but he is making a strong case that he deserves another chance.

2024 Charlotte Knights Players of the Week

Robbie Grossman (April 1-7)
Danny Mendick (April 8-14)
Danny Mendick (April 15-21)
Lenyn Sosa (April 22-28)
Colson Montgomery (April 29-May 5)
Jake Woodford (May 6-12)
Wilmer Difo (May 13-19)
Jared Walsh (May 20-26)
Oscar Colás (May 27-June 2)
Wynton Bernard (June 3-9)
Wilmer Difo (June 10-16)

Birmingham Barons

Record 2-4 (last week), 39-24 (overall)

Barons Player of the Week

Ky Bush 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K

Brooks Baldwin .190/.261/.190, 21 at-bats
Jacob Gonzalez .333/.417/.429, 21 at-bats
Tim Elko .400/.455/.600, 20 at-bats
Wilfred Veras .118/.118/.118, 17 at-bats
Edgar Quero .227/.227/.364, 22 at-bats

Jairo Iriarte 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Jake Eder 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 10 K
Noah Schultz 4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K
Mason Adams 5 2⁄3 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Tyler Schweitzer 7 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 8 K

The Barons only scored one run during their doubleheader on Sunday, so they only took two of six from Pensacola this week and are turning what should have been a no-brainer division clinch into a nail-biting finish to the first half. Overall, it was a poor week for the offense, but as expected, the rotation had a strong week.

Ky Bush led the way, pitching seven shutout innings, issuing no walks and only allowing two hits. This is Bush’s second weekly award of the season, as he also won it in the last full week of April. Overall, Bush has a 1.78 ERA, so he deserves quite a bit of credit for the rotation’s success in Birmingham and would seemingly be the next rotation arm promoted.

First baseman Tim Elko also gets honorable mention for his 8-for-20 week at the plate. Elko performed admirably with Kannapolis and Winston-Salem in 2023, but he got off to a slow start when he first got to Double-A. However, this season, Elko has shown clear signs of improvement.

2024 Birmingham Barons Players of the Week

Drew Thorpe (April 8-14)
Edgar Quero (April 15-21)
Ky Bush (April 22-28)
Bryan Ramos (April 29-May 5)
Mason Adams (May 6-12)
Brooks Baldwin (May 13-19)
Jacob Gonzalez (May 20-26)
Mason Adams (May 27-June 2)
Edgar Quero (June 3-9)
Ky Bush (June 10-16)

Winston-Salem Dash

Record 1-5 (last week), 29-34 (overall)

Dash Player of the Week

Ryan Galanie .211/.423/.526, 19 at-bats

Wes Kath .100/.100/.100, 20 at-bats
Loidel Chapelli .455/.538/.455, 11 at-bats
Bryce Willits .200/.273/.200, 20 at-bats
Colby Smelley .455/.500/.455, 11 at-bats
Samuel Zavala .222/.500/.278, 18 at-bats

Drew McDaniel 2 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 0 K
Riley Gowens 4 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 3 K
Jared Kelley 4 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 4 K
Shane Murphy 6 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Juan Carela 5 2⁄3 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 K
Frander Veras 5 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K

The Dash were in a habit of hovering around .500, but they finally had a bad week to drop to 29-34. Despite that, there were a few strong performances, and Ryan Galanie took the cake with his week at the plate.

Galanie, who had already won three Player of the Week awards in Kannapolis before being promoted, wasted little time before getting his first honors with Winston-Salem. Galanie is a 23-year-old third baseman who has been locked in this season, and he added two homers to his total this week. Those were his first two homers at the High-A level, and he has nine overall this year.

2024 Winston-Salem Dash Players of the Week

Jacob Gonzalez (April 8-14)
Juan Carela (April 15-21)
Manuel Veloz (April 22-28)
Jacob Gonzalez (April 29-May 5)
DJ Gladney (May 6-12)
Shawn Goosenberg (May 13-19)
Tyler Schweitzer (May 20-26)
Bryce Willits (May 27-June 2)
Samuel Zavala (June 3-9)
Ryan Galanie (June 10-16)

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Record 3-3 (last week), 39-23 (overall)

Cannon Ballers Player of the Week

Tommy Vail 5 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 6 K

Matt Hogan .200/.333/.200, 15 at-bats
Caden Connor .292/.370/.333, 24 at-bats
Rikuu Nishida .190/.261/.190, 21 at-bats, 6-for-6 stolen bases
Albertson Asigen .308/.412/.538, 13 at-bats, 4-for-4 stolen bases

Lucas Gordon 5 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 1 K
Aldrin Batista 4 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 4 K
Seth Keener 4 2⁄3 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 8 K
Jake Peppers 6 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Jake Bockenstedt 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K

The Cannon Ballers went 3-3 this week, which was worse than usual for this red-hot team. However, due to the rough week in Birmingham, the Cannon Ballers surpassed the Barons for the organization’s best record. More importantly, the Cannon Ballers clinched a spot in the postseason.

Tommy Vail, who had been exclusively a reliever prior to this week, made his first start of the season on Friday. Vail could hardly have performed any better, as he allowed zero runs on zero hits in five innings. The Delmarva Shorebirds could not solve him, as they only put one runner on base against him, with a walk. Vail also struck out six Shorebirds. Vail, 25, has been a strikeout machine all season, averaging 14.2 Ks per nine innings across 26 innings of work. Overall, he has a 1.73 ERA and a 1.99 FIP. Congratulations to Vail on his first Player of the Week this season.

2024 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Players of the Week

Aldrin Batista (April 8-14)
Albertson Asigen (April 15-21)
Caden Connor (April 22-28)
Rikuu Nishida (April 29-May 5)
Ryan Galanie (May 6-12)
Ryan Galanie (May 13-19)
Drew McDaniel (May 20-26)
Ryan Galanie (May 27-June 2)
Ronny Hernández (June 3-9)
Tommy Vail (June 10-16)

ACL White Sox

Record 2-4 (last week), 11-20 (overall)

Javier Mogollón .278/.350/.556, 18 at-bats
Leandro Alsinois .313.389.500, 16 at-bats
Adrian Gil .353/.500/.647, 17 at-bats
Eloy Jiménez .333/.333/1.000, six at-bats

Christian Oppor 3 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Luis Reyes 3 2⁄3 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 5 K
Jordany Chirinos 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Ricardo Brizuela 4 1⁄3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 5 K
Jeremy González 4 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 8 K
Emerson Talavera 4 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K

DSL White Sox

Record 1-4 (last week), 2-6 (overall)

Albert Alberto .273/.429/.364, 11 at-bats
Jurdrick Profar .300/.563/.400, 10 at-bats
Marcelo Alcala .273/.385/.455, 11 at-bats
Christian González .200/.478/.200, 15 at-bats

Jommy Hernández 3 2⁄3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Reudis Díaz 4 2⁄3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Orlando Suarez 6 2⁄3 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 5 BB, 9 K