White Sox Minor League Update: May 31, 2024

The top Sox prospect goes off in Charlotte, while the farm’s pitching staff excels across the board

Worcester Red Sox 13, Charlotte Knights 4 (Gameday Box) (Statcast Box)
Oh, yeah. Sean Burke is back, baby.

Burke was electric in his return to the mound following a shoulder ailment that limited him to just three starts in 2023. He allowed three walks and one earned run in his triumphant return, tossing 60 pitches on a clearly limited pitch count designed to stretch him out over his next few outings.

The bullpen, however, didn’t fare as well. Adisyn Coffey, fresh off of another promotion, appeared human for the first time (two-thirds of an inning, two earnies). But the majority of the night’s damage was exacted on relievers Deivi García and Juan Then; each righty walked four whole batters in their combined 1 2⁄3 innings of work. They’d also combine to allow 10 of the Red Sox’s 13 runs.

With position player pitching ace Danny Mendick in Chicago, outfielder Wynton Bernard closed this one out with a scoreless two-thirds of an inning that included just one hit and a strikeout.

Despite a decidedly lopsided score in this one, the Knights actually outhit the Red Sox 12-10. An effort like that deserves a little recognition, reader, even if the end result is an L. Let’s dish out honors, shall we?

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Birmingham Barons 5, Rocket City Trash Pandas 0 (Gameday box)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Terrell Tatum got on base three times and came across to score twice in Birmingham’s 5-0 throttling of the Rocket City Trash Pandas. Per Birmingham tradition, the night’s starter was absolutely brilliant on the bump.

Eder scattered just three hits across his 6 1⁄3 innings pitched, punching nine tickets and walking just two. His dominant performance gave way to one of the best bullpens in Double-A baseball to complete the shutout. Early season trade acquisition Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa tossed 1 2⁄3 innings of hitless ball, walking one and striking out one as well. Josimar Cousin would strike out two of the three batters he faced to finish this one off in the ninth.

Offensively, Brooks Baldwin returned to the lineup in the 3-hole following a rare off-day the night prior. He collected two hits and walked once in his return to action, while center fielder Jacob Burke joined him in the multi-hit club with two knocks of his own.

What’s not to love about a shutout? Let’s redistribute some of that love to the night’s top performer, eh reader?

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Hickory Crawdads 4, Winston-Salem Dash 1 (Gameday Box)
Well, tonight’s game in Winston-Salem wasn’t anything to write home about, but at least the Dash only needed two pitchers to get through nine frames! Oft-embattled prospect Peyton Pallette comported himself well on the mound in this one, just falling short of five full frames of one-run ball with five hits, a couple walks, and a thruple strikeouts to his credit in the loss.

Shane Murphy would go on to span the last 4 1⁄3 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) and fanning three on just 56 pitches.

Offensively, the boys from Winston-Salem ran into a bit of trouble against this Crawdads pitching staff. Despite the adversity, both Loidel Chapelli and Shawn Goosenberg notched multi-hit efforts. Mixed among each batter’s knocks was a double apiece.

A tame Friday night affair in Winston-Salem still deserves some love from Sox faithful. Let’s divvy up the honors, reader.

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Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 4, Columbia Fireflies 0 (Gameday Box)
Starting pitching dominance continued in Kannapolis tonight! Second round pick a summer past, Grant Taylor, tossed four frames of two-hit ball with SEVEN punchies en route to a no-decision (given a short hook since coming back from injury). Taylor was in and around the zone all night, blowing batters away with his electric fastball while only issuing one free pass on 58 pitches.

Offensively, the Ballers managed to back up their pitchers with an admirable nine-hit effort that included multi-hit performances from Arxy Hernández and Ryan Burrowes. Perhaps more surprising was the fact that this Fireflies staff somehow managed to keep prolific Ballers 1B Ryan Galanie in the park, holding him to just one hit while affording him a free pass as well.

Yet again, pitching is king! Will a pitcher be awarded for this shoutout win, or will the top offensive performer take home the gold? The decision is yours, reader.

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ACL Brewers 8, ACL White Sox 4 (Gameday Box)
The Arizona Brew Crew matched their MLB brethren by handily defeating our ACL Sox. This desert win came courtesy of a five-run second inning at the expense of lefty Jeremy González. González has been less-than-stellar, owning a meteoric 16.00 ERA in four appearances so far.

The Sox, to their credit, struck back for four runs in this game, but those runs were mainly for vanity’s sake — the game had already gotten out of hand and was called after just 6 1⁄2 innings. Catcher Manuel Guariman slugged the lone longball for the ACL Sox, his first in the minor leagues. Speedy outfielder Abraham Núñez was responsible for the only other extra-base hit for the Sox by way of an exciting hustle triple.

Despite the down game, there are stars in the making on this young ACL Sox squad. Let’s recognize them with today’s silver lining vote, eh reader?

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