As the rosters begin to jell following an active trade deadline, the White Sox farm system appears to be invigorated. The Birmingham Barons have won three in a row, the Winston-Salem Dash have rattled off four straight, and the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers have scored double digits in two of their last three, including a thrilling walk-off victory on Thursday.
Don't ask about Charlotte.
Even though it appears as though the system has received a shot in the arm, it's not reflected in a couple of updated MLB organizational rankings. For all the intriguing talent the White Sox added two to three weeks ago, it only boosted them from 26th to 20th on MLB Pipeline's rankings, while Baseball America re-slotted the White Sox at No. 22.
That feels a little bit underwhelming, especially when Bryan Ramos has been playing like a top-100 candidate as of late. But there are some gaps in the system. The Triple-A roster is largely barren, and while the Sox did receive an infusion of Double-A pitching, Nick Nastrini, Ky Bush and Jake Eder haven't yet taken root (although Nastrini is getting there).
They're in better position, but they're also at least a year away from being able to fashion even a surprise contender with in-house talent. I didn't quite expect them to finish in the top half, so I'm not sure there's much of a difference between 20th, 22nd, and, say, 17th.
Nashville 5, Charlotte 4
- Korey Lee singled and struck out four times.
- Adam Hackenberg was 1-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts. He also stole his first base in Triple-A.
Birmingham 6, Chattanooga 3
- José Rodríguez went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Colson Montgomery is back in the lineup: 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
- Bryan Ramos was 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Wilfred Veras went 2-for-4 with a homer and a double.
- Alsander Womack was 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Tim Elko hit his first Double-A homer while going 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Luis Mieses, 1-for-4 with a K.
- Yoelqui Céspedes, 1-for-2 with a sac bunt and a stolen base.
- Jonathan Cannon: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 57 of 88 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*Cannon told Elijah Evans he's working on speeding up his slider, as the tinkering with the arsenal continues.
Winston-Salem 8, Greenville 5
- Loidel Chapelli went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a walk.
- Brooks Baldwin, 3-for-5 with a double and a stolen base.
- DJ Gladney was 2-for-4 with two homers and a walk.
- Wes Kath, 1-for-4.
- Josimar Cousin: 6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Kannapolis 11, Carolina 10
- Jacob Gonzalez went 2-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Calvin Harris was 1-for-3 with a walk and an HBP.
- Jordan Sprinkle went 0-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Shane Murphy: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2 HR
Highlights:
*The Cannon Ballers came back from down 10-4, winning it on this walk-off bases-clearing double by Mario Camilletti.
ACL White Sox 2, ACL Athletics 1
- Ryan Burrowes went 1-for-3 with a double.
- George Wolkow was 1-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base.
- Ronny Hernandez, 1-for-4 with a K.
- Norge Vera: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
- Seth Keener: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
- Christian Oppor: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
DSL Padres Gold 7, DSL White Sox 3
- Javier Mogollon went 2-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
- Abraham Nunez and Stiven Flores both went 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- D'Angelo Tejada was 1-for-4.
