White Sox Minor Keys: June 1, 2025

It didn't take long for the second-guessing over the White Sox's last first-round draft pick to begin.

While 2025 fifth-overall pick Hagen Smith is on the injured list while dealing with elbow soreness and some biomechanics work on the side, the Royals are promoting Jac Caglianone, taken one pick later, to the majors.

He's earned an audition at the very least, hitting .323/.391/.600 over 225 plate appearances, most of which were in Double-A Northwest Arkansas. After no issues with Triple-A pitching over his first 11 games at Omaha (.326/.380/.767), Jeff Passan says the Royals are giving him a look at the major league level.

Caglianone was the clear-cut No. 1 prospect on the recently published Royals Top 35 list, but the LongenFegan write-up suggests a little less polish than the typical fast-tracked college hitter, but he's not going to learn about what he can't hit until he doesn't hit it.

Caglianone has otherworldly all-fields juice. There are big leaguers who will pop 20 bombs this year and won’t post a max exit velo as big as the 111.6 mph 90th-percentile figure Caglianone posted in the opening month of his first full season. He’s not nearly refined enough in his pitch selection or at the contact point to dismiss the idea of a lengthy big league adjustment period, but there’s 40-homer potential here that’s actualizing really quickly.

Caglianone’s defense is overmatched by the timeline that his bat is driving. He has the straight line speed to get by in an outfield corner, but he has played there very sparingly and runs circuitous routes. First base is more than doable for him, but he’s still a work-in-progress there. Given the prodigious nature of his early minor league production, however, he might just make a strong case for DH reps in Kansas City by the All-Star break or sooner.

Charlotte 8, Buffalo 4

• Brooks Baldwin went 1-for-4 with a triple, walk and two strikeouts.
• Andrwe Vaughn was 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Tim Elko, 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
• Bryan Ramos was 0-for-3 with a walk and an HBP.
• Nick Nastrini: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 23 of 39 pitches for strikes.

Birmingham 8, Knoxville 4

• Rikuu Nishida went 1-for-3 with a walk, HBP and strikeout.
• William Bergolla was 3-for-4 with a double, walk and stolen base.
• Ryan Galanie maximized his 1-for-5 night, because the "1" was a game-breaking grand slam in the ninth.
• Jacob Gonzalez was 3-for-4 with a double and a sac bunt.
• Wilfred Veras, 2-for-5 with a homer.
• Riley Gowens: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 52 of 72 pitches for strikes.

Highlights:

*Galanie cashed in after three straight two-out walks.

Hub City 3, Winston-Salem 1

• Jeral Perez wore the collar and silver sombrero.
• Samuel Zavala was 2-for-4.
• Braden Montgomery pinch-hit and ended up with an RBI groundout.
• Lucas Gordon: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 44 of 68 pitches for strikes.

Charleston 5, Kannapolis 4

• Abraham Nuñez struck out twice and was ejected for arguing a checked-swing strike three.
• Lyle Miller-Green replaced him and went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
• Caleb Bonemer was 0-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout.
• Ronny Hernandez, 2-for-3 with a walk.
• George Wolkow went 1-for-4 with a K.
• Ryan Burrowes was 1-for-3 with an HBP and a stolen base.