White Sox Minor League Update: April 8, 2025

The Barons secure the lone affiliate victory behind Riley Gowens’ gem

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 3, Charlotte Knights 0 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Tonight’s loss dropped the Knights to 6-4 on the season. The Jacksonville pitching was just too much for the Charlotte offense to handle. They managed to eke out seven hits but couldn’t ever string enough together to push a run across. The closest they came was in the top of the fifth when Colson Montgomery led off with a walk, and Joshua Palacious followed with a single. With nobody out, Dominic Fletcher laid down a sacrifice bunt, which accomplished the goal of moving over the runners, but Corey Julks and Greg Jones both went down swinging to end the threat. Palacious, who had himself a night, knocked a one-out double to center in the ninth, but a popout by Fletcher and lineout by Julks ended the game.

Righty Owen White made his second start of the year. He faced the minimum through three but surrendered a run in the fourth and found himself in some trouble in the sixth after giving up another tally and handing the Jumbo Shrimp a 2-0 lead.

With a man on second and two outs, Steven Wilson entered for mop-up duty and got a popup in foul territory to end the frame. Reliever Brandon Eisert, who the Sox just optioned to Charlotte yesterday, handed Jacksonville some cushion in the ninth on a single and a run-scoring double.

Birmingham Barons 6, Chattanooga Lookouts 3 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
With the only win across all the affiliates, the Barons had a pretty good handle on this one throughout the evening. Down 1-0 in the fourth, they put together a three-spot against Lookouts starter Jared Lyons. With one out, Wilfred Veras worked a walk, and Adam Hackenberg followed with a single. Lyons launched a wild pitch, moving the runners over, and Oscar Colás smacked a two-run single to center. Then, Lyons balked Colás to second, Mario Camilletti worked a free pass, and Nick Podkul singled home Colás, giving the Barons a 3-1 advantage. The Barons added two more runs in the seventh on a series of singles by Rikuu Nishida, Jacob Gonzalez, and Wilfred Veras. Finally, they tacked on an unearned insurance run in the eighth off a series of errors by catcher Cade Hunter.

Libertyville native Riley Gowens took the mound for his first start of the season. The 25-year-old tossed five solid innings, allowing only one run on three hits with one walk while striking out an impressive nine batters. The righthander is the last real hope we have from the Aaron Bummer trade.

Hurlers Jake Palisch and Zach Franklin threw a combined three scoreless innings out of the Barons’ arm barn. The Lookouts did put together a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth off of Caleb Freeman, but he was ultimately able to shut them down to give Birmingham their second win of 2025.

Greensboro Grasshoppers 4, Winston-Salem Dash 3 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Much like their big league counterparts did earlier today, the Dash bullpen blew the game in the ninth inning. With a 3-2 lead heading into the top of the frame, reliever Madison Jeffrey gave up two runs on a single, wild pitch, walk, and a double. Righthander Jake Bockenstedt started the game for Winston-Salem and tossed five shutout innings, allowing only four hits and two walks while striking out six.

The Dash got on the board early with a trio of runs in the third. After a leadoff walk to Cole McConnell, Ryan Galanie smacked a double, and Caden Connor followed with a two-run single. Jackson Appel stepped up next and drove in Connor on another double. That was it, though, for the Dash, and it wasn’t quite enough offense to hang on for the win.

Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 0 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
South Side Sox’s No. 48 prospect Ricardo Brizuela got the start and earned the loss for the Ballers tonight. The 21-year-old went 3-2 with a 4.33 ERA and 1.214 WHIP with 35 Ks and 10 walks last season for Kannapolis. However, this contest was a tough one for the righthander as he surrendered three runs (one earned) over 2 1⁄3 innings. The free three passes he gave up and three errors by the defense definitely didn’t help the cause.

The Kanny offense only managed two hits off of Lynchburg’s pitching. Braden Montgomery, the power-hitting outfielder who sits at No. 5 on Chicago’s Top 30 prospect list (No. 6 at SSS) and No. 54 in MLB Pipeline’s overall Top 100, continued his solid start to the season. He smacked a two-out double in the top of the first. Jordan Sprinkle had the other knock, a single in the top of the eighth.