White Sox Minor League Update: April 17, 2025

Another Hagen Smith gem and two extra-inning thrillers led to the South Side farm splitting the day

Nashville Sounds 5, Charlotte Knights 4 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Jairo Iriarte made his fourth start of the year and continued to battle with his control. He gave up one run in each inning he appeared in (four), and two of the four runs were scored off of home runs. Iriarte also walked three batters while striking out five, and accounted for a wild pitch and a balk. Jairo’s K/BB ratio is currently at 1.00 with 12 apieceon the season, and MLB has him currently at a brutal 2.46 WHIP.

Walk issues carried on into the fifth as Luke Bell loaded the bases with three of them, allowing the Sounds to increase their lead to five.

The Knights didn’t start answering back until the bottom of the fifth, and they scored in three consecutive innings to claw back within one. The four runs were accompanied by RBI doubles from Brandon Drury and Corey Julks — his second of the day. Nashville closed it out after that, as the Knights weren’t able to score another run and took the L, losing 5-4.

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Birmingham Barons 4, Biloxi Shuckers 1 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
The Barons were out-hit by Biloxi (six compared to Birmingham’s four) but went 2-for-5 with RISP to make up for it. Timely offense paired with with efficient pitching performances was the difference-maker that allowed the Barons to get the W. It also definitely helped that Jason Matthews poked a two-run shot to give Birmingham the lead in the third.

Hagen Smith made his third start of the year, and was solid throughout his five innings. One of the three hits he gave up was a home run, but he was otherwise efficient, and his ERA sits at 3.72 on the year. The only other free base runner was a hit batter in the fourth, but he was otherwise lights-out, striking out five along the way — adding up to 17 on the season.

Jordan Mikel and Jarold Rosado threw for two innings each, and each did their job by limiting base runners and keeping runs from scoring to seal the win for Smith — his first of 2025.

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Winston-Salem Dash 8, Greenville Drive 6 (10 innings) (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
The Dash somehow got away with a win in extras after blowing a five-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning to allow the Drive to tie the game and force a 10th. In all this chaos, they nearly foiled an excellent six-inning start from Lucas Gordon, who gave up just one hit, struck out nine, and walked two.

Ryan Galanie carried the offense for the majority of the game, driving in three runs on a homer and a triple, though Sam Antonacci, Jeral Perez, and Samuel Zavala came away with two hits each. Thankfully, Greenville choked as well in extras and allowed the go-ahead run for the Dash to score on back-to-back balks ... yes, balks.

Perez poured it on after that, blasting a two-run shot to increase Winston-Salem’s lead to three. Connery Peters closed it out in the bottom of the 10th to earn the save, though Jared Kelley would earn the win after blowing the save in the ninth, because of course.

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Columbia Fireflies 7, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 5 (10 innings) (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Although it was still an extra-inning thriller, the Cannon Ballers weren’t as successful as the Dash. They were able to put up four runs in the first three innings to back up lefthander Justin Sinibaldi. The offense fell mostly flat after that, and they went 3-for-20 with RISP, so it’s not like they didn’t have their chances. The bullpen also wasn’t as reliable as they could have been, and Kannapolis lost to the Fireflies in 10 innings, 7-5.

Sinibaldi threw fairly well for four innings, his one blemish being a solo home run given up in the top of the fourth. At that point, the Ballers still had a four-run lead, but relievers Manuel Veloz and Jonathan Clark gave up two runs apiece to allow Columbia to take the lead. Unfortunately Clark would receive the blown save, even though the two runs he gave up were unearned.

Jesús Mendez took over in the 10th, but gave up two runs and earned the loss as Kannapolis was unable to answer back. The Ballers actually did have something brewing in the bottom of the 10th after loading the bases, but Ronny Hernandez grounded out the first to end the game.