Farm Fortnight: Now with biweekly honors for White Sox prospects

The White Sox issue monthly honors for the top pitcher and position player in their farm system, and Minor League Baseball recognizes the Player/Pitcher of the Week throughout all their leagues.

That leaves an opening in the marketplace for a biweekly award, and Farm Fortnight seems as well-suited as any place to create such a designation.

(It also gives me an easy way to kick off one of these monstrosities when there isn't a grand overarching theme the White Sox's affiliates, but I think that's something I'm supposed to keep to myself.)

Regardless of the motivation, here are the Fortnight's Finest for April 29-May 11...

Position Player -- Braden Montgomery: The last two weeks were Montgomery's first two weeks in High-A, but he looked like he'd been playing there for years. Over 12 games, he hit .405/.480/.762 with six doubles and three homers, including a walk-off three-run shot on Wednesday:

Pitcher -- Christian Oppor: He's now strung together three consecutive impressive outings after posting a combined line of 9 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K over his starts against Augusta and Carolina the past two weeks. The performance has earned the 20-year-old lefty an early midseason bump to High-A Winston-Salem, making this hopefully the last time we can use this header photo.

Now, here's what everybody else is doing.

Charlotte Knights

• Last two series: 3-3 vs. Norfolk, 4-2 vs. Memphis
• Record: 19-20
• Next two series: vs. Round Rock, @Buffalo
• Individual stats

Between the promotions of Edgar Quero and Tim Elko, and the reassignment of Colson Montgomery, the Charlotte Knights have been without most of the name-brand prospect power with which they opened the season. They're currently being supplemented by rehab stints for Korey Lee, Mike Tauchman and Austin Slater, and one for Gage Workman was cut short when the White Sox DFA'd him. We'll see if the Rule 5 pick finds a new home, or returns to his original organization. Montgomery was returned to Charlotte and back to batting fifth in the Knights lineup on Tuesday. Maybe he's even already fixed.

Despite all of the churn, they still remember that they play baseball at Truist Field. The Knights lead the league with 57 homers, with St. Paul running in second with 44, but they've also surrendered the second-most homers in the International League with 51. You may not like it, but this is how Charlotte baseball is meant to be played.

Position Players

*Kyle Teel is riding a 12-game hitting streak, and has hit safely in 19 of 20 games since becoming Charlotte's clear-cut No. 1 catcher. It's not the loudest hot streak -- he hit .333/.400/.472 over his 10 games played against Norfolk and Memphis, with exactly one hit in each of his last eight games -- but after the cluster of strikeouts early, he's only had one multi-K game over his last 17, so his game is shaping up in the way it was imagined.

*Bryan Ramos is heating up in fits and starts, but there are signs of life after his delayed start. He hit .242/.324/.515 over the last two series, with five of his eight hits going for extra bases. He's played all 18 games this season at third base after DHing exclusively during the spring.

Pitchers

*Nick Nastrini followed up six scoreless innings against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on April 22 by giving up 10 runs and nine walks over 5⅔ innings across his next two starts, which is maybe why he made his latest appearance out of the bullpen. It went well, as he threw three innings of a very normal line against Memphis on Sunday (3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR).

*Jairo Iriarte was just listed as reassigned to the ACL White Sox on his transaction page on Monday, but he's been effectively on the Development List for weeks. He hasn't pitched since an ugly one-inning appearance on April 24, as the White Sox are trying to get him right with work on the side.

*Tyler Schweitzer shows the limitations of "just throw strikes" with Charlotte. In his first four starts at Triple-A, he's given up seven homers and 23 hits over 18 innings, allowing 17 runs. He was able to survive a pair of blasts over five innings against Memphis on Sunday for his first win at the level.

*Wikelman González was promoted from the Birmingham rotation to the Charlotte bullpen, since he's on the 40-man roster. He's started his Triple-A career by throwing two scoreless innings in three consecutive outings, with an increasing percentage of strikes each time. The total line thus far: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K.

Birmingham Barons

• Last two series: 3-3 vs. Pensacola; 1-4 @Columbus
• Record: 15-16
• Next two series: vs. Chattanooga, @Pensacola
• Individual stats

Because the Birmingham Barons won the Southern League in 2024, it was easy to overlook that they hit just 77 homers over 138 games, finishing seventh in the eight-team league in that department.

It's an even bigger issue this year, as the Barons are last in the Southern League with 14 homers over their first 31 games. It was an even worse situation before Ryan Galanie arrived from Winston-Salem, so that's why he's on the board now. Perhaps Braden Montgomery will be around to help sooner than expected.

Position Players

*Jacob Gonzalez had three straight games with an extra-base hit during the Pensacola series, but he's followed it up by going 0-for-14 with a sac fly and five strikeouts.

*Wilfred Veras continues to be a weird Three True Outcomes version of himself, with eight walks and 11 strikeouts against six hits over his last 10 games. It only works if he hits for power, but he's still plagued by the reverse splits problem, with no extra-base hits in 28 plate appearances against lefties.

*DJ Gladney took some time off to recover from an illness, and he's being rewarded for it in the early returns, going 6-for-20 with a homer and a double over six games.

*William Bergolla continues to be the steadiest Baron, hitting .290/.342/.368 over 10 games against Pensacola and Columbus. The three doubles represent a power surge for him, especially since one of them hit off the top of the right field wall.

*Rikuu Nishida, conversely, hasn't produced an extra-base hit in 17 games. He's still been able to get on base over that time -- .232/.358/.232 over those 69 plate appearances -- but it's not a profile that works against the levels ahead.

*Ryan Galanie is technically in his age-25 season, but he's 24 for another month and a week, so he's smart to hit the ground in Birmingham crushing. He's hitting .359/.405/.615 with a couple of homers over his first 42 Double-A plate appearances. If nothing else, he's showing that somebody in a Barons uniform is allowed to hit for power.

Pitchers

*Noah Schultz threw six innings for the first time in his career against Pensacola, which allowed him to earn his second victory in 39 professional starts. Then he walked five over four innings and plunked another against Columbus on May 6, so even he's bitten by the wildness bug that's been pretty pervasive throughout the system.

*Hagen Smith also threw six innings for the first time in his professional career against Pensacola, but while wildness also resurfaced in his subsequent start against Columbus, he was limited to two innings due to a severely weather-delayed start. Fatigue is also a factor being monitored, and Smith is having his next start skipped as the Sox navigate his first full season.

*Grant Taylor has improved strike-throwing to report, for a nice change of pace. The combined line from his prescribed three-inning starts against Pensacola and Columbus are that of a respectable outing for a more established pitcher: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 51 of 84 pitches for strikes. Some bullpen outings are expected to be added to his schedule of innings-capped appearances.

*Riley Gowens, on the other hand, followed the same script as Schultz and Smith: zero walks in six innings against Pensacola, six walks in three innings against Columbus. He more than doubled his season walk total that night, so perhaps it can be written off as an aberration.

*Peyton Pallette is working on a streak of five scoreless, walkless appearances, allowing just a double and four singles over seven innings while striking out 13. His ERA still needs work, but he's climbing out of the hole he dug for himself.

Winston-Salem Dash

• Last two series: 2-4 @Greensboro; 3-3 vs. Bowling Green
• Record: 12-22
• Next two series: @Brooklyn, vs. Hudson Valley
• Individual stats

Speaking of extreme home run stats, the Winston-Salem Dash pitching staff is leading the South Atlantic League with 34 homers surrendered in just 33 games. Truist Ballpark is among the cozier confines, certainly, but when the Ashville Tourists and it's 297-foot right field corner in McCormick Field also count as members, there should always be at least one team ahead of them on that particular leaderboard.

At least the offense is also taking advantage of the situation. It's largely great news below on that front.

Position Players

*Braden Montgomery blasted through any adjustment period, as you saw in the opening blurb. Two more things to add to his production -- he only struck out once over the six-game set against the Hot Rods, and after rotating through the outfield positions in Kannapolis, he's the primary center fielder with the Dash.

*Sam Antonacci only got plunked twice over his last 12 games, but he still managed to get on base in less painful ways, hitting .296/.380/.500 over his last 11 games. He also made his first start of the season at shortstop on Saturday. That doesn't figure to be any sort of future for him, but I just thought I'd point it out.

*Jeral Perez is consistent in his inconsistency. He went hitless in five of his last seven games, making me think he was in the middle of his first slump of the season. Yet when you zoom out and look at his production from the last fortnight, it nearly matches the line that he brought into it:

• First four weeks: .230/.326/.527
• Last two weeks: .234/.315/.553

He also went six consecutive games without striking out, so the K rate is on the way down.

*Samuel Zavala is hitting over .200, ladies and gentlemen. He's coming off his best two-week sample as a member of the White Sox organization, hitting .300/.364/.500 with a homer, three doubles and three walks over nine games. He's another guy who started avoiding strikeouts of late, so this is when I checked the South Atlantic League stats and saw that Bowling Green's pitching staff is at the bottom of that leaderboard, so let's revisit this topic next time.

*Jackson Appel hasn't produced meaningfully since the first week of the season, so he probably won't appear on this board two weeks from now.

Pitchers

*Lucas Gordon extended his scoreless innings streak to 19 until giving up a solo shot in the fourth inning of his outing against Greensboro on May 4. He's pitched at least five innings in five consecutive starts.

*Seth Keener put up his best line of the season in his most recent start against Bowling Green, but this is the line: 4 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR on 85 pitches. That can't quite be called progress.

*Tanner McDougal set a season highs with nine strikeouts over five innings against Bowling Green his last time out, but it came after lasting just two innings against Greensboro. He's still struggling to string together quality outings, but at least last year's long-ball problems aren't the issue.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

• Last two series: 5-1 vs. Augusta, 2-4 vs. Carolina
• Record: 18-15
• Next two series: @Hickory, vs. Columbia
• Individual stats

He's not going to appear on the boards below because he's a 23-year-old Oregon State product batting .188 in Low-A, but it's worth highlighting the week of Mikey Kane.

A 17th-round pick back in 2023, Kane is an infielder mostly taking care of first base this year, but he's also made four late-game appearances on the mound. Two of them came in consecutive games against Carolina last week, and he recorded 1⅓ scoreless innings in both of them. Better yet, Friday's appearance came with the Cannon Ballers only trailing by two in a doubleheader, and after Kane pitched a scoreless top of the seventh, the Ballers scored three in the bottom of the inning to make him the winning pitcher of record. Kane now has as many victories in his professional career as Tanner McDougal.

That might make you think Kane is another Matt Davidson in waiting, but no, he throws mostly well-located eephuses with an occasional sidearmed mid-70s fastball. He's up to 3⅔ scoreless innings on the year, mostly because he's facing hitters and umpires that don't know exactly what they're looking at, but for the time being, he's carved out a fascinating niche for himself.

Position Players

*Caleb Bonemer cracked Baseball America's top 100 prospects list in the outlet's latest revision, but it catches him when his production has cooled off a little. He only missed a game after getting beaned, but he's hitting .227/.352/.318 in the 12 games since that HBP. This could just be what a little bit of regression looks like for a 19-year-old who has started his professional career in impressive fashion, so let's follow up on this in two weeks.

*Javier Mogollón dusted himself off just fine from his downturn, bouncing back from a slump to hit .385/.515/.654 over nine games. He's riding a five-game hitting streak, although he didn't play over the weekend against Carolina. He'd left a game earlier in the week after taking a funny step on first base trying to beat out a grounder, and now is listed on the seven-day IL.

*Ronny Hernandez walked more than he struck out last year, and now he's striking out five times for every walk while repeating Kannapolis. It's not coming with any corresponding increase in his ISO, either.

*George Wolkow is starting to find the open spots in the field, hitting .281/.359/.313 over 40 plate appearances spanning the Augusta and Carolina series. That comes with a .429 BABIP, but that had room to regress positively, given that it's just .250 for the season.

*Ryan Burrowes has started playing outfield for the first time in his stateside career, making a couple of starts in center field over the last two weeks alongside work at third and second.

*Lyle Miller-Green went just 1-for-17 in five games against Carolina, although the one hit was a homer, and he also drew three walks against five strikeouts over 21 plate appearances.

*Abraham Nuñez went hitless in 19 consecutive plate appearances during the transition from Augusta to Carolina, so it's been a sluggish start to the full-season portion of his professional career.

Pitchers

*Christian Oppor is pitching the best ball of his young professional career, and James talked to him about it last week right before he got bumped up:

*Luis Reyes has been effective more often than not this season, but you'd never know it from his season line, which has been tarnished by two dud outings, including five runs over 1⅓ innings his last time out. He'd pitched three consecutive commendable five-inning starts before that.

*Pierce George is dealing with the same issue as Reyes. He recently strung together four scoreless appearances, but you'd never know it because it's sandwiched by a pair of games where he allowed seven earned runs while retiring just one of the combined 14 batters he faced, including an ugly one-third of an inning the last time out.

ACL White Sox

• Record: 2-5
• Individual stats

The ACL White Sox have just started their schedule, so just about everything that was covered in the season preview still holds up.

Position Players

*Colson Montgomery played documented games with the ACL White Sox while working out his issues away from Charlotte. He went 3-for-17 -- all singles -- with two walks and four strikeouts in five games against inferior competition in Arizona, so if he turns things around upon returning to Charlotte, that will still qualify as his first encouraging results of the year.

As for the rest, the sample sizes are small enough that Adrian Gíl's golden sombrero on Monday put a big dent in his otherwise impressive start to his second season in the ACL, while Jurdrick Profar is struggling as the youngest player on the roster. T.J. McCants seemed like he's overqualified for the ACL, but there isn't yet an outfield opening at Kannapolis, so here he waits. Angelo Hernandez made his season debut on Friday, but that's been his only action to date.

Pitchers

Mathias LaCombe is finally pitching for the White Sox after being their first-ever French-born draft pick in 2023. He struggled in his debut, but rebounded to strike out seven over three innings of one-run ball his second time out. Angel Bello, the youngest pitcher on the roster, is being eased into stateside work.

White Sox Minor Keys

ACL Dodgers 5, ACL White Sox 2 (7 innings)

• Adrian Gíl struck out all four times up.
• T.J. McCants went 2-for-3 with a double.
• Jurdrick Profar walked once and struck out twice.