White Sox Minor League Update: May 9, 2025

Kanny’s walk-off error and ACL’s win staves off the affiliates getting swept

Memphis Redbirds 13, Charlotte Knights 10 (Statcast box)
The bats were swinging on both sides, but Charlotte was outmatched. The Knights put together 10 hits, but fell short in runs, batting average with runners in scoring position, and slugging power. Bryan Ramos, Corey Julks (who crushes the minors but can’t translate his hitting to the majors), and Andre Lipcius provided half of Charlotte’s hits and runs, including two homers. However, the pitching struggled to keep the Redbirds at bay.

It’s great to see Charlotte put up back-to-back nights with double-digit runs, but the score doesn’t matter if the players can’t offer the same production and skill at the big league level.

NOTE: Korey Lee, out much longer than his 10-day IL stint, began his Triple-A rehab tonight, going 1-for-2 before subbing out at catcher for Kyle Teel.

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Columbus Clingstones 4, Birmingham Barons 2
The Barons dropped their fourth straight game in a row to fall two games worse than .500. Grant Taylor had his worst start of the season, and he didn’t even do that much damage. He quickly gave up two runs in the first, but settled in to finish his three-inning start with a pair of runs off three hits. Birmingham took their time to catch up, but Jacob Gonzalez and Rikuu Nishida eventually tied the game, 2-2, in the seventh.

Once again, the bullpen let the team down. In his second appearance as a Barons reliever, Shane Murphy gave up a solo home run and an RBI single to hand the lead back to the Clingstones. Despite throwing four scoreless innings prior, Murphy’s sudden collapse turned the game against Birmingham in minutes.

This week has been a wake-up call to the Barons, who had been one of two winning White Sox minor league affiliates.

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Bowling Green Hot Rods 5, Winston-Salem Dash 4 (10 innings)
The Dash’s unfortunate May persists. Winston-Salem fell behind early but rallied around Cole McConnell’s RBI single and Braden Montgomery’s sacrifice fly to tie the game, which was enough to send the game into extra innings. No surprise: McConnell and Montgomery have been the most entertaining players for the Dash this season.

All that goodwill screeched to a halt though, as Mark McLaughlin didn’t hold up his end of the game. He gave up two runs from a bunt, balk, intentional walk, and single, losing Winston-Salem’s lead and earning the loss for the night. While the Dash came within striking distance of pushing the game into the 12th, Jeral Pérez’s one-out ground out into a double play with Terrell Tatum in scoring position ended the game, burying the Dash deeper in last place.

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Carolina Mudcats 5, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 4 (opener) (suspended finish from May 8)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 5, Carolina Mudcats 4 (nightcap) (7 innings)
Kannapolis led 1-0 on Thursday, thanks to a bases-loaded walk to George Wolkow, but the rain delay threw the momentum off. When the game resumed on Friday, the Cannon Ballers failed to capitalize on a few key scoring opportunities that would’ve given them enough runs to win the game. Kanny stranded runners on second and third with no outs in the third and wasted Javier Mogollón’s leadoff triple in the fifth. The lineup ended the game 4-for-16 with runners in scoring position and nine left on base, while the bullpen failed to preserve the lead. Ultimately, the missed opportunities were costly for Kannapolis.

In the nightcap, hey, there’s nothing like an error to walk off a game. Lyle Miller-Green’s solo home run in the second inning was the only exciting hitting event.

Kannapolis blew their chance with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth when Mikey Kane grounded out to end the inning, but they made up for in the ninth by drawing five straight walks to tie the game. With no outs, Carolina second baseman Luis Lameda botched his throw to the plate, handing Kannapolis a hard-earned win.

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ACL White Sox 5, ACL Cubs 2 (7 innings)
Despite striking out 14 times, the ACL Sox bested the winless ACL Cubs. The biggest contributions came from D’Angelo Tejada, who scored two from a single, and Stiven Flores, who hammered a two-run home run. Marcelo Alcala scored the final run of the night, thanks to Cubs pitcher Luis Reyes’ balk.

The Sox pitching was solid tonight, with Max Roberts leading the crew in the bullpen-heavy game. Roberts, impressively, tossed an immaculate inning. Jeremy Gonzalez also earned three strikeouts, but he wasn’t as perfect, giving up two hits and a run in 2 ²⁄₃ innings. Overall, the pitching and hitting was well-balanced and complementary, which can hardly ever be said about the major league team.

Does an ACL Crosstown win bode well for the Sox winning at least one of the Crosstown Classic series next week? Probably not, but one can hope.