Tim Elko hit a combined 28 home runs across three different levels in 2023. He hit 24 home runs and won a College World Series for Ole Miss in 2022. But eight homers in 10 games while trying to earn a call-up from Triple-A Charlotte? Yeah, that might register as the heater of his life to date.
"I guess you could say that," Elko said "A cool little stretch of 10 games with some homers, that's cool and everything."
Elko and right-hander Grant Taylor were named White Sox minor league player and pitcher of the month for April, awards voted on by a small collection of media members who cover the team regularly, including yours truly. Voting is colored by which players reporters would like to get on a Zoom call ... or maybe that's just a personal theory after I was the lone vote for High-A left-hander Lucas Gordon.
But there was no debate about Elko, not after the 26-year-old hit .366/.448/.707 in April, making him probably the most enticing potential offensive upgrade in the Sox farm system in May.
"I see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I'm just focusing on where I am right now, on continuing to try to be the best that I can so when I get my opportunity I can perform," Elko said. "I don't really dig into that kind of stuff too much. I'm just trying to focus on what I'm doing here now, just trying to improve every single day and be the best I can for the Charlotte Knights right now. Whenever the opportunity arises, I'll be ready."
As his career plaudits indicate, Elko has always had prodigious power, but with contact issues that tamped down most enthusiasm about whether it could play in the majors. His strikeout rate (29.2 percent) remains elevated, but it has leveled off over the last few weeks, and Elko has given particular credit to machine learning -- the Trajekt in spring, less expensive varieties in Charlotte -- in improving his swing decisions.
Director of hitting Ryan Fuller argued, and Elko agrees, that curbing his out of zone chase has made more consistently dangerous inside of it as well. He views it as both skills feeding into each other.
"When you are on time and ready for those pitches in the zone, it’s a lot easier to take the ones outside the zone," Elko said. "So, it’s just being selective and really just zoning in on the pitches I’m looking for, and hunting that helps to make it easier to not swing at those bad ones as well."
Elko made somewhere between six and 20 references to being focused on helping the Charlotte Knights win games, or being where his feet are, or working to get better ("I've been able to improve some of my weak areas that I've had the last couple years"), rather than taking the bait on questions about his major league timeline. But if and when he does arrive in Chicago, there's another feature from his offensive production that he'll be happy to display as well.
"I like being a big target for the guys on the infield," said Elko, who is conservatively listed at 6'3". "I tell them, 'Hey, just get it in the vicinity, and I'll catch it for you guys.' If a guy throws me a [ball I need to] pick, I take pride in picking it and picking him up. That's a fun thing for me to be able to do over there."
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Taylor is a bit of surprising choice for pitcher of the month, since he's being eased into starting more than his counterparts. He's enjoying pitching every five days for the first time, but has been limited to three innings at most for his first four outings, and even game-planning to get pro hitters out twice in one night is a new frontier for him.
His famous Birmingham Barons teammates Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith are closer to starter workloads and might draw more attention, even from Taylor himself.
"Getting to watch Schultz go six innings for the first time in pro ball, he’s 98 mph on his 93rd pitch," Taylor said. "Watching him fired up after that, it can only help everyone in the dugout being around that and seeing that. Both Hagen and Schultz are No. 1 and No. 2 left-handed pitching prospects, so that’s something to compete with. There’s friendship. You always want to stack good days on each other and see who comes out on top. It’s really good for all of us."
Taylor's season line, which shows 10 walks over 11⅓ but only one earned run because Double-A hitters are 4-for-36 against him with a double, resembles someone getting by on pure stuff. Taylor feels otherwise, and says that's actually what he enjoys more compared to last year in Low-A.
"Sometimes my stuff was just really good that day and I could get away with a lot more," Taylor said. "The Double-A hitters kind of hold me a little bit more honest, so I have to work on more things. You have to be in zone early. There's not going to be as many 0-0 chases, 0-1 chases that put you 0-2 and then 0-2 it's your ballgame. You see that at the big league level a lot. Those guys really don't swing out of the zone a lot. You have to trust your stuff in-zone a lot more than you do at lower levels. I think that adds to the game and it makes it more fun because it's more like my best on your best. Let's get after it."
Taylor has been sitting 96-98 mph with his fastball in the early going, but is vocally opposed to relying it too much, lest he diminish its effectiveness. He says he's grown very fond of his 93 mph cutter, the hardest of his three distinct breaking balls, to get him back into counts and generate weak contact. The kick change sounds like it's still a work in progress.
"When I'm throwing that well, it's really good in my arsenal," Taylor said. "It's still a feel pitch, something that is sometimes hard to work into a game sometimes. So I'm just going to keep at it and keep going with it and hopefully it will be a really good pitch for me down the line."
Down the line is obviously the focus for Taylor, whose best hope for the majors is a September bullpen cameo, provided there are innings left in the 80-90 goal the organization has set for him. After Tommy John surgery nixed his draft year and a lat strain knocked him out for most of 2024, his walk rate can stay inflated so long as it means he's healthy and throwing through the finish.
"I think I had a good routine last year, but there were a couple of things here and there that I could clean up and it’s more of an emphasis that you have to take care of yourself to be healthy and to be on the field ever day" Taylor said. "It’s been a lot of fun, a lot more fun than what I went through last year being able to put some starts together and be out here at the start of a season. I’m really enjoying it."
White Sox Minor Keys
Norfolk 11, Charlotte 3
- Tim Elko hit his 10th homer during a 1-for-4 night, striking out twice.
- Kyle Teel was 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Josh Rojas was 0-for-4 with a K.
- Justin Dunn took lumps: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 2 HBP, 47 of 84 pitches for strikes.
Greensboro 11, Winston-Salem 9
- Sam Antonacci went 2-for-5 with a double.
- Jeral Perez hit his eighth homer, walked, hit a sac fly and struck out twice.
- Braden Montgomery went 1-for-4 with a double, an HBP and a strikeout.
- Jackson Appel was 1-for-4 with a walk.
- Seth Keener: 3 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP, 43 of 75 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 9, Augusta 1
- Caleb Bonemer went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Abraham Nuñez went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Javier Mogollón singled, walked thrice, struck out and stole two bases.
- Lyle Miller-Green homered, singled, walked and struck out twice.
- George Wolkow went 1-for-3 with a warning-track sac fly, walk and strikeout.
