White Sox Minor League Update: May 15, 2025

Birmingham won fourth in a row, Charlotte and the ACL squad put up 14 total runs, and A-ball rode the struggle bus

Charlotte Knights 7, Gwinnett Stripers 1 (Statcast box)
The Knights (21-21) had excellent pitching, and two big offensive innings in the fifth (three runs) and eighth (four runs) propelled them to their 7-1 win over the Stripers (18-24). Gwinnett scored first with one run in the bottom of the first inning, and then never scored again, though Dominic Fletcher wasn’t going to let them score more than one anyways — making a diving play in the first to get out of a jam. It also did not help that the Stripers went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Thank you, Charlotte pitching.

Evan McKendry was traded to the White Sox from the Milwaukee Brewers just 10 days ago, and has been great in his two outings thus far. McKendry threw for 3 2⁄3 innings and gave up one run on give hits, and struck out one batter. He has a 1.59 ERA in his two starts with the organization and while early, he’s really only had one bad outing this year prior to being traded.

The fifth-inning, three-run rally was kicked off by Oscar Colás walking and stealing second to get into scoring position … then making it to third on a throwing error. Dominic Fletcher then promptly drove him in to score the first run of the game for Charlotte, tying the game at one. To keep the train rolling, Colson Montgomery followed that up with an RBI double to take the lead, has been seeing the ball way better since he has returned to Charlotte, and is 5-for-13 with three doubles.

Adding to the chaos in the third was Corey Julks with a two-out RBI single to put Charlotte up, 3-1. Julks was 3-for-5 on the day and has just been absolutely crushing the ball with a .355 batting average and 1.023 OPS.

Colás and Montgomery kept the offense bumping in the eighth. Oscar drove in the fifth run of the game with a base hit to left, and Colson mashed his second double of the game for the final two runs scored for the Knights.

Their great performance from the pitching staff was noted earlier, but the bullpen was lights out in their 5 1⁄3 innings of work. Combined, they gave up just two hits, three walks, and three strikeouts, though Justin Dunn (1 1⁄3 IP, 2 H, BB) earned the win thanks to the Knights offense.

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Birmingham Barons 4, Chattanooga Lookouts 3 (10 innings)
A game that started in a pitcher’s duel turned into an extra-inning battle, but the Barons (18-16) were able to walk-off the Lookouts (16-19) and win, 4-3, extending their win streak to four.

Jake Palisch made his second start of the season with another fantastic outing, giving up just two hits and two walks while striking out six in five innings. This was his second back-to-back scoreless five inning start, and the last one he didn’t give up any hits. In 24 innings this season, Palisch is now at a 0.75 ERA with a below-1.00 WHIP (0.83). If he keeps this performance up, it’s likely a promotion could be in his future.

Things got dicey in the top of the sixth when Gil Luna walked in the tying run and was credited with a blown save. Zach Franklin replaced him to get the last one and thankfully struck out the next batter to close out the inning. The Barons bullpen gave up just one more hit through nine innings, and though he earned the win, Garrett Schoenle allowed two runs on three hits in the top of the 10th that allowed the Lookouts to take the lead.

Birmingham’s offense teamed up for nine hits and went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position, but failed to score in some key moments, which allowed Chattanooga to stay in the game. The strong performance was bolstered by Wilfred Veras (3-for-5), who drove in the first and last runs of the game, including his walk-off single in the 10th.

Mario Camilletti was the ghost runner for the Barons in the 10th, and scored on a fielder’s choice after reaching third on a wild pitch. William Bergolla ripped a game-tying triple off the center field wall just a few batters later, and just like the Birmingham was back in the game!

To finally put an end to the madness, Veras followed up Bergolla’s triple with a sharp base hit to the left side that was too hot to handle, and drove in the game-winning run.

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Brooklyn Cyclones 7, Winston-Salem Dash 2
Both teams scored their runs early in the game, but then completely fell off after the fourth inning. The Cyclones (23-12) were able to strike last, however, and the Dash (12-24) dropped their third game in a row — not an ideal start to the series.

Winston-Salem had plenty of opportunities with runners in scoring position, but went just 1-for-13, even with six hits and five walks as a team. Samuel Zavala went 1-for-3 with an RBI double, and the other two runs were scored on a fielder’s choice and a throwing error from Booklyn.

Tanner McDougal had a tough start for the Dash. He threw for 4 2⁄3 innings and allowed four runs on nine hits, including a home run. He also struck out eight, so McDougal is missing bats, but when he’s missing spots it’s causing plenty of damage. Tanner is having a rough May overall, posting an 8.49 ERA and 2.06 WHIP after today’s outing (three starts). He ended April with a 2.08 ERA, and has since ballooned to 4.32.

The bullpen was excellent and gave up just two hits, but it didn’t matter as the offense was flat and couldn’t pull ahead. They had an opportunity in the top of the ninth and were threatening to score, but got thrown on at home instead.

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Hickory Crawdads 5, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 4 (10 innings)
The Cannon Ballers (19-17) lost the lead as fast as they took it, but still ended up tying the game at four to push the game into extras, but the Crawdads (17-18) ended up walking off Kanny on a sacrifice bunt and a throwing error from Liam Paddack. Yes, you did, unfortunately, read that correctly.

The Ballers took a three-run lead after a rally in the fourth inning that included home runs from Ronny Hernández and George Wolkow. This provided some solid run support behind starter, Grant Umberger, however, the Crawdads obliterated Kanny’s lead the following inning to go up, 4-3. Only two of three runs Umberger gave up were earned as a fielding error from Miguel Santos put the first runner aboard.

Outside of the 10th inning, the bullpen was on point for the rest of the game and gave up just four hits, but they couldn’t get out of their own way on either side of the ball. Just two of the five runs Hickory scored were earned while the defense committed two errors, and the Kanny offense went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base.

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ACL White Sox 7, ACL Giants 3 (8 innings)
The Sox (3-6) gave up their one-run lead the fourth and were forced to tap into some late-game heroics to tie the game at three in the sixth, and add four more runs in the eighth to defeat the Giants (4-5), 7-3. Majority of the Sox batters got a hit Thursday, but T.J. McCants and Grant Smith were the only players with multi-hit games, and Grant Magill put up the most RBIs with two.

Mathias LaCombe set the stage for a productive pitching performance from the Sox, but Max Roberts struggled through his 1 1⁄3 innings and gave up three runs to the Giants in the bottom of the fourth. Outside of those three runs, the rest of the bullpen gave up just two more hits in the final four innings, and struck out five with zero walks.