Birmingham climbed back above .500 with a 4-2 week to lead the system
Charlotte Knights
Record 3-3 (last week), 22-23 (overall)
Knights Player of the Week
Andre Lipcius .467/.529/.733, 15 at-bats
Colson Montgomery .286/.348/.429, 21 at-bats
Jason Matthews .375/.583/.375, eight at-bats
Corey Julks .333/.440/.429, 21 at-bats
Kyle Teel .313/.389/.375, 16 at-bats
Dominic Fletcher .231/.474/.462, 13 at-bats
Korey Lee .353/.421/.412, 17 at-bats
Tyler Schweitzer 4 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K
Nick Nastrini 2 2⁄3 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 5 BB, 5 K
Wikelman González 2 2⁄3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Owen White 6 IP, 5 R (4 ER), 6 H, 2 BB, 5 K
[redacted] 7 2⁄3 IP, 7 ER, 10 H, 3 BB, 6 K
The Knights split their series against the Gwinnett Stripers (20-25). After this decent performance, the Knights remained within a game of .500.
Second baseman Andre Lipcius, 26, provided a major spark for the Knights. Lipcius finished 7-for-15 with four doubles, two walks, and his only stolen base attempt was successful. Lipcius has improved his overall slash line to .283/.345/.495 in 28 games this year, all with the Knights. The Tigers drafted Lipcius in the third round in 2019, and he hit .286/.342/.400 in 13 MLB games for Detroit. Those are the only 13 MLB games that Lipcius has played in. The Dodgers picked up Lipcius in March 2024 but released him in December. If the White Sox manage to find production that the Tigers and even the Dodgers could not unlock, that would be a big win.
Colson Montgomery returned to the Knights after a brief rehab stint with the ACL White Sox. Montgomery had a decent week, finishing 6-for-21 with three doubles, two walks, and four driven in.
2025 Charlotte Knights Players of the Week
Tim Elko (April 7-13)
Bobby Dalbec (April 14-20)
Tim Elko (April 21-27)
Tristan Gray (April 28-May 4)
Jason Matthews (May 5-11)
Andre Lipcius (May 12-18)
Birmingham Barons
Record 4-2 (last week), 19-18 (overall)
Barons Player of the Week
Riley Gowens 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Rikuu Nishida .067/.300/.067, 15 at-bats
Caden Connor .250/.294/.313, 16 at-bats
William Bergolla .182/.250/.273, 22 at-bats
DJ Gladney .150/.261/.300, 20 at-bats
Jacob Gonzalez .333/.391/.524, 21 at-bats
Ryan Galanie .333/.350/.556, 18 at-bats
Mario Camilletti .357/.400/.500, 14 at-bats
Jake Palisch 5 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 K
Noah Schultz 8 ⅓ IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 5 BB, 13 K
Shane Murphy 6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 K
Grant Taylor 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 5 K
Zach Franklin 3 ⅓ IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K
Jared Kelley 3 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K
Peyton Pallette 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 3 BB, 4 K
Hagen Smith start skipped, to manage innings
The Barons won their first four games against Chattanooga (18-20) before dropping the last two. Despite the cold finish to the series, the Barons are above .500 once again.
There was plenty of good pitching to go around this series. The Barons only allowed 18 runs in six games, exactly three per game. As expected, there are several strong contenders for this week’s award, but Riley Gowens edged out the competition. Gowens, 25, only allowed three opposing hitters to reach base safely during six masterful innings. Impressively, Gowens is averaging 10.86 strikeouts per nine innings. Gowens still has an ERA that is higher than he would like (4.70), but his FIP (3.45) and xFIP (3.41) agree that he has pitched better than that.
Shane Murphy’s start was nearly as terrific, as he shut down the Lookouts throughout six innings. Relievers Jake Palisch, Grant Taylor, and Peyton Pallette also deserve honorable mention for their work on the mound. Meanwhile, Jacob Gonzalez narrowly beat Ryan Galanie and Mario Camilletti for highest OPS on the team.
2025 Birmingham Barons Players of the Week
William Bergolla (April 7-13)
Tyler Schweitzer (April 14-20)
Wilfred Veras (April 21-27)
Caden Connor (April 28-May 4)
Ryan Galanie (May 5-11)
Riley Gowens (May 12-18)
Winston-Salem Dash
Record 0-6 (last week), 12-27 (overall)
Dash Player of the Week
Lucas Gordon 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Braden Montgomery .182/.308/.364, 22 at-bats
Cole McConnell .136/.296/.273, 22 at-bats
Jeral Perez .095/.136/.143, 21 at-bats
Samuel Zavala .125/.300/.188, 16 at-bats
Arxy Hernández .143/.143/.190, 21 at-bats
Tanner McDougal 4 2⁄3 IP, 4 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 8 K
Jake Bockenstedt 8 2⁄3 IP, 7 ER, 11 H, 6 BB, 9 K
Tommy Vail 4 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Christian Oppor 3 2⁄3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 2 K
Jake Peppers 3 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K
It was a week to forget for the Dash, who got swept by Brooklyn (26-12) to fall 15 games below .500.
Offense was hard to find, with Braden Montgomery’s .672 OPS leading the team among players with at least 10 at-bats. The pitching staff as a whole was not overly impressive, either, but there were a few bright spots. The top performer was Lucas Gordon, 23, who gave the Dash a good chance to win on Friday. During that game, Gordon only allowed one run on four hits in five innings, striking out six. Of those four hits, three were singles, and one was a triple. The Dash failed to score, and the bullpen allowed five runs in three innings, so Brooklyn won, 6-0. However, Gordon lowered his ERA to 2.72, and he raised his K/9 rate to 10.21 to claim this his second weekly award.
2025 Winston-Salem Dash Players of the Week
Jake Bockenstedt (April 7-13)
Lucas Gordon (April 14-20)
Sam Antonacci (April 21-27)
Jeral Perez (April 28-May 4)
Braden Montgomery (May 5-11)
Lucas Gordon (May 12-18)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
Record 3-3 (last week) 21-18 (overall)
Cannon Ballers Player of the Week
George Wolkow .304/.346/.826, 23 at-bats
Caleb Bonemer .286/.522/.643, 14 at-bats
Miguel Santos .222/.364/.389, 18 at-bats
Ryan Burrowes .263/.391/.579, 3-for-3 stolen bases, 19 at-bats
Lyle Miller-Green .071/.333/.071, 14 at-bats
Kaleb Sophy 4 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 4 BB, 0 K
Ricardo Brizuela 5 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 6 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Justin Sinibaldi 5 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 8 K
Grant Umberger 4 1⁄3 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Jack Young 3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K
The Cannon Ballers split their series against Hickory (18-20), and they only trail Columbia (22-17) by one game for first in the Carolina League South.
George Wolkow, 19, has gotten off to a slow start this season, but he picked up the pace in a big way this week. Wolkow finished 7-for-23 with three homers, a triple, a double, a walk, and six driven in. Wolkow is a six-foot-seven, 239-pound native of Downers Grove who captured a lot of attention with his power last year. Entering this week, Wolkow had only one homer and a .505 OPS, but now, he has four homers and a .629 OPS. Overall, Wolkow has more to prove before he earns a promotion, but this week was certainly a step in the right direction.
Caleb Bonemer, 19, also made a very strong push for this week’s award. Bonemer did not quite have the power to overtake Wolkow, but he could hardly be retired, posting a .522 OBP. Bonemer already has a weekly award to his name, and he is slashing .280/.426/.466 in 34 games this year.
2025 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Players of the Week
Jordan Sprinkle (April 7-13)
Caleb Bonemer (April 14-20)
Jordan Sprinkle (April 21-27)
Miguel Santos (April 28-May 4)
Justin Sinibaldi (May 5-11)
George Wolkow (May 12-18)
ACL White Sox
Record 2-2 (last week) 4-6 (overall)
Complex Sox Player of the Week
Stiven Flores .385/.429/.923, 13 at-bats
Adrian Gil .182/.308/.545, 11 at-bats
Matt Hogan .364/.533/.364, 11 at-bats
T.J. McCants .400/.400/.533, 15 at-bats
Marcelo Alcala .222/.300/.333, 2-for-2 stolen bases, nine at-bats
Jordany Chirinos 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 7 K
Mathias LaCombe 2 2⁄3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Connor Housley 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Reudis Diaz 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Jake Curtis 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K
Marco Barrios 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K
The ACL White Sox broke even in their four games this week, and their record now sits at 4-6.
Catcher Stiven Flores, 19, was on fire, posting a sky-high 1.352 OPS. Flores went 5-for-13 with a homer, a triple, two doubles, a walk, and four driven in. Generally, catchers are not expected to be great hitters, but Flores was the team’s most impactful hitter by far this week. In 43 games in the Arizona Complex League last year, Flores did not display much power, with a .287/.338/.329 slash line. However, in the early going of 2025, the story has been much different.
2025 ACL White Sox Players of the Week
Bryce Willits (May 5-11)
Stiven Flores (May 12-18)