White Sox Minor League Update: April 26, 2024

Birmingham rattles off their eighth straight win and Charlotte wins in extras

Charlotte Knights 6, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 4 (10 innings) (Gameday score) (Statcast box)
Another game, another six-run result delivered by a healthy and everchanging Knights baseball team. Despite suffering the loss of Tommy Pham and Rafael Ortega, along with Lenyn Sosa being in rare form by NOT hitting a homer for Charlotte, a new cast of top performers delivered the dub in extras tonight.

Chief among them: former Brewers top prospect Brett Phillips.

What would prove to be Phillips’ lone hit on the night was a pivotal one. In true cardiac kid fashion, the outfielder struck out four times before delivering in this critical moment. On the whole, the offense managed seven hits in this six-run affair. The only Knight to enjoy multiple hits was right fielder Zach DeLoach, who reached base four times when it was all said and done, twice via the hit and twice by walk. DeLoach elevated his average on the year to .284 and his OBP to a stellar .376.

On the mound, fellow trade acquisition Jared Shuster, a product of the Aaron Bummer deal, delivered 4 2⁄3 innings of one-run ball despite not having his best stuff on the mound. The lefty walked two, fanned five, and ended his night on 84 pitches. With the exception of journeyman righty Dalton Roach, who allowed the other three IronPigs runs to score in his one-third inning of work, the Charlotte bullpen was nails in this one; Johan Dominguez, Lane Ramsey, Aaron McGarity, and Justin Anderson all turned in scoreless performances.

With that, it’s up to our readers to decide whether we dole the hardware out to the extra-innings hero or another, more consistent performer!

Birmingham Barons 7, Chattanooga Lookouts 5 (10 innings) (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
As wins have become routine for this talented Barons ballclub, Birmingham rattled off its eighth straight win. Equally routine was another multi-hit performance from Brooks Baldwin that, because it was part of a 2-for-5 night, actually LOWERED his obscene average to a paltry .446.

In addition to Baldwin, three other Barons had multi-hit performances, as Terrell Tatum, Tyler Neslony and Wilfred Veras all contributed to this tense, extra-innings victory.

While the offense deserves all the credit they’ve earned in this one, I’d like to spotlight reliever Gil Luna, who earned his first win of the year in this one. Luna, 24, has yet to allow an earned run on the young season. In five appearances spanning 5 2⁄3 innings, Luna has managed to strike out 37.5% of the batters he’s faced en route to recording two Barons saves in the early going. If Luna can continue on this pace, the southpaw could find himself knocking on the door to Triple-A Charlotte sooner rather than later.

Not to be outdone, starter Jake Eder delivered six full innings of two-run ball while striking out eight lookouts. The promising lefty walked just two batters.

Winston-Salem Dash 5, Rome Emperors 3 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Winston-Salem bounced back from last night’s shutout in a big way. On the whole, despite only scoring five runs, the offense clobbered 11 hits, six of which went for extra bases. DJ Gladney broke out in a big way, recording a double and a triple (a clout that was mere feet shy of a homer) while also scoring two of Winston-Salem’s five runs.

Starter Juan Carela was shaky in this one, tossing 3 2⁄3 innings of three-run ball while walking two and fanning for. Carela’s start would be piggybacked by 4 1⁄3 innings of scoreless ball courtesy of José Ramírez.

Ramírez has been money early on in the season, sporting a microscopic 0.77 ERA in three games spanning 11 2⁄3 innings. Electric reliever Eric Adler nailed down his fourth save of the year and has yet to be scored upon in 2024.

Charleston RiverDogs 4, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Oh, so close! The whole system was nearly top-to-bottom with wins today. This matchup started off promising, with 2023 third rounder Seth Keener turning in another masterful start on the mound. He lowered his season ERA to 1.53 in a performance that saw him toss four innings of shutout ball to go along with three walks and eight (!!!) strikeouts.

On the whole, the Ballers out-hit the RiverDogs 8-5, but a rare blow-up relief appearance by Tommy Vail proved to be the defining performance in this tough luck loss. Vail fired off 1 2⁄3 innings of ball, surrendering three earnies, walking three, and fanning two en route to the loss on the line score.

Offensively, leadoff man Eddie Park contributed 25% of Kannapolis’ hits on the night with a two-hit affair that included a double, RBI, and two walks. Park’s mature approach at the plate, great bat-to-ball skills and fantastic baserunning should merit consideration for a promotion in the not-to-distant future.