Farm Fortnight: White Sox system could use boost from draft picks

White Sox prospect Colson Montgomery
Colson Montgomery (Laura Wolff / Charlotte Knights)

The All-Star break also applied to the White Sox farm system, as the four full-season affiliates only played nine games over the last two weeks — a full six-game series, followed by a three-game weekend set. Colson Montgomery and Noah Schultz had their workloads further reduced by travel to and from the Futures Game.

The position-player side of the system needed the rest, because with Brooks Baldwin in Chicago — and looking a little out of sorts so far — there are only a handful of players with detectable upward momentum. Others are merely getting by, with a disconcerting amount taking on water.

Fortunately, 20 freshly signed White Sox draft picks are entering the system. Some will get brief Arizona tune-ups, and others will be lucky to get a game or two over the remaining ACL schedule before participating in whatever informal bridge league comes after. Either way, the boards should look considerably different two weeks from now. It’ll also be a good opportunity to revisit which prospects lost too much stock to keep tabs on the rest of the way, lest this become a review of a majority of White Sox minor leaguers. We’re already touching on 70 players, as you’ll see below.

Charlotte Knights logo

Charlotte Knights

  • Last two series: 3-3 vs. Durham; 2-1 @Gwinnett
  • Record: 43-50 (10-9 in second half)
  • Next two series: @Nashville, vs. Norfolk
  • Individual stats

I don’t mean to alarm anybody, but the Charlotte Knights have a rotation, as Davis Martin has replaced the perpetually achy Mike Clevinger as the rehabbing starter alongside prospects of varying excitement levels. They also benefited from the return of Lenyn Sosa, who is one of the few players who seems to understand that Charlotte is a place to pad power stats.

Edgar Quero notwithstanding, the lineup continues to sputter, so that’ll be my primary point of interest when the Knights play six games 15 minutes from my house in Nashville this week.

Position Players

NamePA2B3BHRBB/KSB/CSAVG/OBP/SLG
Colson Montgomery3561311245/1057/2.217/.332/.387
Bryan Ramos237120414/615/1.215/.274/.327
Edgar Quero3251301331/561/1.273/.363/.457
Dominic Fletcher1054027/220/1.226/.308/.333
Zach DeLoach279101331/7315/2.268/.355/.354
Oscar Colรกs268114632/569/4.254/.351/.417
Lenyn Sosa887068/152/1.291/.352/.608

*Colson Montgomery looked refreshed in the extended All-Star break he received due to his appearance in the Futures Game, homering, doubling, singling and walking in a Saturday doubleheader against Gwinnett. Then he struck out three times and committed his second error of the series on Sunday, so I’m very much looking forward to watching him in person for a week to better understand the deal here.

*Bryan Ramos also was held hitless on Sunday, which ended a five-game hitting streak. The strikeouts are starting to ease up, so there’s some hope. He’s also hitting .193/.241/.292 against righties this year, his second year with a pronounced imbalance, so maybe there’s the flaw.

*Edgar Quero is hitting .259/.394/.407 over his first eight games in Triple-A, with a homer, double and five walks. All good here so far.

*Dominic Fletcher had a decent series against Durham, followed by a quiet showing against Gwinnett, but it’s still light on impact, as he couldn’t muster an extra-base hit. He’s been more noticeable on defense, where he’s made a couple of wall-banging catches in center field. They’re strong efforts, but considering he’s in the minors because he injured his shoulder robbing a homer in Milwaukee, there’s a risk-reward element he might not be considering.

*Zach DeLoach homered during the Durham series, his first one since May 19. He’s also hitting .303/.400/.424 in July, which included a handful of days off and an All-Star break. It’s worth keeping open the possibility that he was playing through something, because the lack of power — at Charlotte, it can’t be stressed enough — has been a real disappointment.

*Oscar Colรกs homered on Sunday, his first since May 18. Unlike DeLoach, he’d been producing decently despite the lack of thump, but they’ve both contributed to the weird lack of slugging at Truist Field.

*Lenyn Sosa doesn’t have a power problem, as he’s slugging .608 over 88 games with the Knights. It shouldn’t be that hard. He’s played two games at second and one game at third since the White Sox optioned him last week.

Pitchers

NameGIPHHRBBKERA
Nick Nastrini1254551333645.33
Ky Bush168962836842.63
Mike Clevinger621.22747205.40
Sean Burke113932625525.08
Davis Martin7211815253.43
Jake Eder1676.189933885.66
Prelander Berroa353841725416.16
Josimar Cousin1921.21538222.49
Matt Foster66.170371.42

*Nick Nastrini walked more batters (6) than he struck out (4) over his last two starts, which spanned just 8โ…“ innings because he threw 167 pitches. There’s still no traction here.

*Ky Bush has found Charlotte tougher sledding than Birmingham thus far, but he’s also entered both games in the fifth inning after piggybacking on Mike Clevinger. With Clevinger’s rehab stint paused, Bush should finally get some outings of his own to re-establish a routine.

*Mike Clevinger was returned from his rehab assignment as he deals with neck problems after his elbow problems, and there isn’t a timetable to resume it. His existence in the organization continues to have no point to it.

*Sean Burke pitched his first walkless outing of the year on July 11, five innings of two-run ball against Durham. He’s currently on the Development List, but we’ll see if that’s merely minor roster maneuvering during the All-Star break now that it’s all full six-game series from here on out.

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Author

  • Jim Margalus

    Writing about the White Sox for a 16th season, first here, then at South Side Sox, and now here again. Letโ€™s talk curling.

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HallofFrank

If the full selloff happens, which of these guys will get call ups at some point post-deadline?

Locks: Colas, DeLoach, Fletcher, Sosa
Likely: Ramos, Adams, Bush, Berroa, Foster, Martin, Nastrini
Toss up: Montgomery, Cousin, Eder
Possible but Unlikely: Quero, Iriarte, Elko, Veras, Sean Burke
Long shots: Gonzalez, Tatum, Jacob Burke

Does that seem about right?

a-t

I would move (Sean) Burke up to likely. Liable to be two, perhaps three rotation spots open, with Crochet either traded or ramping down, Fedde all but certainly traded, and Flexen likely traded. Martin and Burke make the most sense to give shots before some of the higher-ceiling SP prospects demand auditoning.

HallofFrank

I tagged Burke as unlikely because he’s coming back from injury, but I can see the case for him. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle the starts/innings. Even if three spots open up and Clevinger doesn’t take one and they don’t get another pitcher back via trade, that leaves three spots for the seven players: Martin, Nastrini, Adams, Bush, Eder, Burke, and Iriarte. I could see any three slotting in. But I wonder if they’ll prioritize MLB audition over getting starts? Like, could we see a Bush/Nastrini piggyback or something like that? Or would they prefer these guys get the start and not mess with bringing them out of the bullpen? I guess we’ll see.

MattyV415

Is it that likely for Ramos? Heโ€™s already had his cup of coffee, and heโ€™s not played well since.

upnorthsox

I don’t consider DeLoach and Fletcher locks, I’m not even sure they’re likely. Adams and Berroa are possible but unlikely, Ramos, Bush, and Nastrini are more toss up than Likely, and Iriarte, Elko, Veras are long shots.

I don’t believe we’ll trade a BP arm singly and may not include one in a package.
There’s a good chance only 1 pitcher is moved.
I think it’s probably 50/50 that Pham is not traded, though I believe if he isn’t he’ll be DFA’d to pursue another team.
I think there’s a better than average chance that Fedde and DeJong are the only players traded and they may go in the same trade.
If I’m right, Sosa is up for DeJong, Colas for Pham, and Nastrini or possibly Bush for Fedde.
If healthy, Foster and Martin could see BP time as could Knebel and Coffey.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Touki made a few starts and I expect Moncada back for most of the rest of the year.
Montgomery will likely get a September cup of coffee, while the other spot will be split up depending on needs.
If we haven’t made a trade by Friday we are in a bad spot as the sellers will be a large group by Monday.

soxygen

Thanks, Jim. Next time you are making up baseball player names, please make up some better statistical lines.

Soxfan2

Zach Deloach’s lack of power this year is really perplexing. Not that he had super high expecations or anything but 23 homers in AAA last year with a .195 ISO compared to 3 homeruns in 279 PAs with an ISO of .86(!)

Is he hurt? Pressing too hard to try and get called up? A product of the White Sox player development?

Yolmer

I am excited to see the Dart back up in Chicago over the last two months. It would help the 2025 team and beyond if he looks like the capable #5-6 starting pitcher he was back in 2022.

Hatchetman

pretty much a total disaster year. whatโ€™s the record for most consecutive 100 loss seasons?

Greg Nix

Not true. Pitching development has been excellent.

Baseballnut

It would be nice if the Sox can luck up on 2 positional players that are stalwarts for the organization for the next 10 years. Since 1989, the only position players of note have been Frank-1989, Aaron Rowand-2007, and Tm-2013. You would think they could run into dumb luck every once in a while.

One can dream.

Last edited 6 months ago by Baseballnut
Dirt

All this organization does is run into dumb!

Oh, you said dumb luck. My bad, carry on.

jorgefabregas

Magglio? Carlos Lee? Ray Durham?

Then thereโ€™s Mike Cameron, who had a 50 WAR career mostly elsewhere. Semien might also this status.

Baseballnut

I meant 1st round picks.

ForsterFTOG

Wow.
That’s some list.

Baseballnut

Stellar

upwithscoots

Really bleak season. Birmingham and Kannapolis had me excited at one point, but now I’m back to wondering what these coaching staffs are doing to help these players make needed adjustments. At least Kannapolis is still showing some signs of life.

Thinking back to Jacob Gonzalez starting out on a tear when he was first promoted and now he’s gone off a cliff with his production.

Adam

You also have to remember the teams have changed greatly. The Barons are actually doing well to keep it near .500 lately given the turnover. Ramos, Baldwin, Quero, Ellis, Thorpe, Eder, Bush off the top of my head. Strip that from a AA team and it becomes more about a lack of talent.

I think this has an effect on Gonzalez too going from a cog in the machine to the driving force. Having guys on, pitchers being worked harder, it all plays a role.

Warren Z

Good god. Outside of Quero, Bush, Schultz, Adams and maybe Wolkow, this has not been a good statistical season for those who are still in the minors. The future does not look bright.

As Cirensica

Thanks Jim. Love these reports.

His existence in the organization continues to have no point to it.

Seriously. Yes.

upnorthsox

Hey the O’s are considering trading Mountcastle and Mullins, sounds like things are really getting serious in the Crochet market…

Seriously though, the Twins are looking to trade and could really use a good SP but they need to clear some salary space. Fedde, Wilson, and Jacob Gonzalez or Korey Lee for Emmanuel Rodriguez, Brooks Lee, and Christian Vasquez. We’ll have the salary space to carry Vasquez next year as a backup or starter and we get 2 top 50 prospects back in RF and 2B/3B. We could even take on Kyle Farmer to offset salary more.

As to the O’s and Crochet, put together whatever reasonable package you can around Crochet for Coby Mayo and call it a trade deadline. If not, we look to trade with the Rays for either Braden Taylor or Junior Caminero and the O’s can enjoy facing Crochet in their division for a few years.