White Sox Weekly Minor League Update: April 29-May 5, 2024

Colson Montgomery, Bryan Ramos, Jacob González, and Rikuu Nishida picked up SSS awards this week

While only one team in the system, the powerful Birmingham Barons, stayed hot and extended a division lead, there were numerous standouts over the course of the past week and six-game sets. Let’s dive right in to the best of the best to begin May!

Laura Wolff/Charlotte Knights

Charlotte Knights

Record 1-5 (last week), 13-19 (overall)

Knights Player of the Week

Colson Montgomery 5-for-19, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K

Oscar Colás 4-for-18, 2B, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K
Carlos Pérez 7-for-19, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Chuckie Robinson 4-for-11, 2B, 1 BB, 2 K
Lenyn Sosa 1-for-8, HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K (went on 7-day IL on May 2)
Dominic Fletcher 4-for-19, 2B, 3 BB, 6 K

Chad Kuhl 11 IP, 3 ER, 10 H, 5 BB, 2 K
Nick Nastrini 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Jake Woodford 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Jonathan Cannon 4 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 4 K

It was a rough week for the Knights, who fell to six games worse than .500. However, Colson Montgomery was lighting it up, posting his first monstrous week of the season, with a 1.019 OPS. Although he had a fairly modest hit total for the week, two of his five hits left the ballpark. In addition, he drew five walks, so his OBP (.440) was through the roof. Throughout the first month of the season, it seemed like it was only a matter of time until Montgomery put one of these hot streaks together, and he delivered. It was a relatively slow start for the season for the 22-year-old infielder, but his OPS is up to .753 after this week’s performance.

2024 Charlotte Knights Players of the Week

Robbie Grossman (April 1-7)
Danny Mendick (April 8-14)
Danny Mendick (April 15-21)
Lenyn Sosa (April 22-28)
Colson Montgomery (April 29-May 5)

S.R. Silver/South Side Sox

Birmingham Barons

Record 4-1 (last week), 19-7 (overall)

Barons Player of the Week

Bryan Ramos 6-for-16, HR, 3 2B, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K

Brooks Baldwin 5-for-19, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K
Tim Elko 4-for-15, 2B, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K
Wilfred Veras 8-for-21, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K
Terrell Tatum 6-for-18, 2B, 3 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K, 3 SB, 0 CS
Edgar Quero 3-for-17, 2B, 1 BB, 2 K
Duke Ellis 4-for-14, 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K, 4 SB, 0 CS

Ky Bush 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Mason Adams 6 1⁄3 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K
Drew Thorpe 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K
Jairo Iriarte 7 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 7 K
Jake Eder 5 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 7 K

What else is new? The Barons had another good week, only losing one game. They had a lot of players to thank for that, but this week’s Barons Player of the Week award goes to Bryan Ramos, who was crushing the ball before being promoted to the majors. Despite the promotion, Ramos had been struggling at the plate overall in Birmingham. However, that changed this week, as he crushed a homer and three doubles en route to a 1.162 OPS. It was a special week for the 22-year-old infielder, who also collected his first MLB hit on Sunday with a single that left the bat at 103.9 mph. Ramos is 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly in four plate appearances at the highest level.

2024 Birmingham Barons Players of the Week

Drew Thorpe (April 8-14)
Edgar Quero (April 15-21)
Ky Bush (April 22-28)
Bryan Ramos (April 29-May 5)

S.R. Silver/South Side Sox

Winston-Salem Dash

Record 2-4 (last week), 11-16 (overall)

Dash Player of the Week

Jacob Gonzalez 7-for-18, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K

Loidel Chapelli 8-for-23, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K
Samuel Zavala 3-for-17, HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K
Bryce Willits 7-for-23, HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K
Wes Kath 5-for-19, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, 6 K
Shawn Goosenberg 5-for-24, HR, 2 2B, 6 RBI, 2 BB, 8 K
Colby Smelley 5-for-11, HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K

Noah Schultz 3 1⁄3 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Riley Gowens 4 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K
Tanner McDougal 6 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Peyton Pallette 5 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 7 K
Juan Carela 4 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Manuel Veloz 4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 K

The Dash only managed two wins during the week, but Jacob Gonzalez was outstanding. González posted a 1.111 OPS, and he had as many extra-base hits as strikeouts. Gonzalez, who the White Sox drafted in the first round last season, got off to a slow start with the Cannon Ballers in 2023, but his numbers at a higher level have been much better. Winston-Salem’s season has only been in progress for four weeks, but Gonzalez has already earned two of these awards.

Despite only having 11 at-bats, Colby Smelley was also considered for this award due to his dominance at the plate in that small sample size. Peyton Pallette, who posted the best start of the week with seven strikeouts in five shutout innings, also deserves honorable mention.

2024 Winston-Salem Dash Players of the Week

Jacob Gonzalez (April 8-14)
Juan Carela (April 15-21)
Manuel Veloz (April 22-28)
Jacob Gonzalez (April 29-May 5)

Tiffany Wintz/South Side Sox

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Record 2-4 (last week) 13-13 (overall)

Cannon Ballers Player of the Week

Rikuu Nishida 7-for-19, 3 2B, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 1 K, 2 SB, 0 CS

Drake Logan 7-for-21, HR, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, 2 SB, 0 CS
Luis Pineda 2-for-16, HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 8 K
Albertson Asigen 3-for-14, HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K
Eddie Park 4-for-16, 2 RBI, 7 BB, 2 K
Caden Connor 6-for-21, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K
Ryan Galanie 7-for-26, HR, 2B, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K

Seth Keener 5 1⁄3 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Aldrin Batista 5 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 2 K
Drew McDaniel 4 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 4 K
Jake Bockenstedt 5 2⁄3 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Jake Peppers 5 1⁄3 IP, 2 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 5 K
Lucas Gordon 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K

The Cannon Ballers dropped back down to .500 with a 2-4 week, but they did have quite a few strong individual performances. Rikuu Nishida takes the cake, as he got on base as often as pitchers kept him off base. Nishida also hit three doubles, drove in four, drew four walks, and only struck out once. In other words, the bat was connecting with the ball very consistently, and he was an on-base machine because of that.

Drake Logan’s weekly OPS (.988) fell just shy of Nishida’s (1.026), but he surely deserves an honorable mention for his performance. Logan had not played this season prior to this week, so he’s off to a white-hot start.

2024 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Players of the Week

Aldrin Batista (April 8-14)
Albertson Asigen (April 15-21)
Caden Connor (April 22-28)
Rikuu Nishida (April 29-May 5)