Farm Fortnight: George Wolkow goes off; progress for Low-A pitchers

As this post goes live on Sox Machine, I'll be driving down to Birmingham for my first look at the Barons this season, and my third look at Rickwood Field, as they're scheduled to play the Pensacola Blue Wahoos there Wednesday afternoon.

Will the game actually take place? Who knows, because there's been rain every day in the Southeast for the last week and there's more to come, but either way, I'll let you know what I see and hear.

Before we get into our biweekly review of the White Sox farm system and its prospects of note, let's first highlight the best performers from the past two weeks.

Fortnight's Finest

Position player: George Wolkow. Boy, did Wolkow ever flip the switch. Two weeks ago, he was hitting .179/.285/.313 on the season, coming off a fortnight with no extra-base hits and 18 strikeouts. Since then, he's raised his season OPS an even 200 points by hitting .444/.480/.822 with three homers, two triples and four doubles over the last 12 games, all with a respectable strikeout rate (25.5 percent).

Pitcher: Max Banks. He was denied this spot the previous fortnight, but he kept his head down and responded with his third and fourth consecutive six-inning starts, over which he posted this line: 12 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. His season ERA at Kannapolis is now at 1.23.

Charlotte Knights

• Last three series: 3-3 vs. Norfolk; 4-2 @Gwinnett
• Record: 26-25
• Next two series: vs. Jacksonville, @Durham
• Individual stats

The Charlotte Knights have now used 56 different players, most recently adding left-handed pitcher Joe Rock and outfielder Junior Pérez to the mix after a couple of minor trades. They also graduated two more players, sending Rikuu Nishida and David Sandlin to the White Sox this week. Despite a roster that's perpetually in flux, they somehow find themselves a game over .500 like their major league counterparts.

Position Players

*Braden Montgomery appeared to be making headway with a seven-game hitting streak, but it ended up morphing into a 2-for-20 slump. FanGraphs is showing a 63.8 percent ground-ball rate at Triple-A, as opposed to 39.4 percent in Birmingham.

*Jacob Gonzalez won International League Player of the Week honors for his series against Norfolk. A quieter six games against Gwinnett followed, but he still averaged a hit a game, and he's tied for the league lead in homers.

*Junior Pérez, acquired from the Athletics for A-ball reliever Jackson Nove on May 16, has opened his Charlotte career by going 5-for-18 with a double, three walks and five strikeouts over five games.

*Ryan Galanie has effectively found himself in a platoon at first base with LaMonte Wade Jr., and it's not really suiting him well thanks to persistent reverse splits. He's 3-for-24 since the timeshare began.

*William Bergolla Jr. is said to be progressing from the leg injury he suffered from his collision with Sam Antonacci on April 9. The hope is for a return sometime in June.

Pitchers

*Hagen Smith continues to hand out walks with alarming consistency, issuing nine over 7⅓ innings between his starts against Norfolk and Gwinnett.

*David Sandlin threw his best start of the year, striking out seven over four innings of one-run, one-walk ball against Gwinnett, and that's catapulted him into the White Sox rotation, at least for one turn.

*Duncan Davitt has spent the first two months alternating between encouraging and discouraging start, and this fortnight was no different. He got knocked out of the second inning in one start against Norfolk, rebounded for five solid frames in the finale against the Tides, and then failed to strike out any of the 16 batters he faced against Gwinnett, giving up five runs over three innings. That's how the ERA is what it is.

*Shane Murphy has allowed more homers over 44 ⅔ career innings at Triple-A (11) than he gave up in 140 innings at Birmingham (10).

*Ben Peoples had his first truly rough outing of the season in his most recent inning against Gwinnett, giving up two runs on a hit and two walks without recording a K. His ERA had room to absorb it. In other reliever news, Chris Murphy is pitching better, and Joe Rock threw two scoreless innings in his org debut after coming over from the Rays organization for Oliver Dunn.

Birmingham Barons

• Last two series: 2-4 vs. Rocket City; 0-5 @Biloxi
• Record: 16-28
• Next two series: @Knoxville, vs. Biloxi
• Individual stats

After two consecutive championships, the Birmingham Barons aren't accustomed to being last place in the Southern League. They're also not used to allowing the most runs, but the implosion of Christian Oppor's control has put Birmingham's pitching staff behind the eight ball.

The lineup did receive an infusion of talent from Winston-Salem, although it's not yet apparent in the results, as Colby Shelton is finding Double-A to be a challenge after laying waste to the South Atlantic League. Alec Makarewicz was named Southern League Player of the Week after hitting .389/.450/.833 against Biloxi, and he's hit five homers over the last two weeks, so there's a bright spot.

Position Players

*Jeral Perez went 4-for-35 over 10 games the last two weeks, but he can say he's not the coldest Baron, because ...

*Samuel Zavala went 1-for-22 over six games around a few days on the Temporarily Inactive List. He's hitting .140/.290/.258 in May overall, overwriting what was an encouraging April.

*Colby Shelton is also scuffling, opening his Double-A career hitting .136/.204/.250 over his first 11 games at Birmingham. The good news is that he's not dealing with any abnormal strikeout or ground-ball rates, so simple regression should be in his favor.

*Anthony DePino, conversely, is producing around an inflated K rate, hitting .263/.333/.455 thus far in Birmingham. He's riding a six -game hitting streak despite 14 strikeouts in 11 games.

Pitchers

*Christian Oppor was taken out of Birmingham's rotation and assigned to the Arizona Complex League in hopes of getting his season back on track, because man is it a mess. He walked five batters and plunked another over two innings against Biloxi on Wednesday, and threw just 12 of 42 pitches for strikes.

*Lucas Gordon hasn't allowed a homer in three consecutive outings, which is good since he's dealing with a lot of traffic. He's faring decently, but inefficiently, averaging nearly 20 pitches per inning.

*Connor McCullough reached five innings for the first time this season against Biloxi, allowing him to throw a complete game's worth of innings over two starts: 9 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, 1 HR .

Winston-Salem Dash

• Last two series: 5-1 vs. Wilmington; 3-3 @Greensboro
• Record: 26-19
• Next series: vs. Rome, vs. Hub CIty
• Individual stats

Even after the promotions of Shelton and DePino, the Winston-Salem offense keeps humming along, leading the league in OBP and running second in slugging behind Greensboro, and they've scored the second-most runs as a result.

Dash pitchers are lagging behind, but they've received a couple of notable additions over the past week, hosting the second leg of Mason Adams' rehab trail, and getting Mathias LaCombe in their bullpen, as relief appears to be his path forward. Despite playing well, they're 6½ games behind Bowling Green in the South Atlantic League South Division, so a playoff spot wasn't worth chasing.

Position Players

*Caleb Bonemer went 0-for-10 at one point during the Wilmington series, and didn't have enough big games to offset the effects of that slump, resulting in a .195/.346/.341 line over 12 games. The strikeout rate is coming down a little, at least.

*Kyle Lodise is coming alive after a sluggish start, hitting .271/.352/.542 with three homers, a triple and two doubles over 11 games. He flew under the radar in comparison to...

*George Wolkow, who, along with being named the Fortnight's Finest, won South Atlantic League Player of the Week for his work against Greensboro. I'm sure Fortnight's Finest means more to him.

*Boston Smith matched Wolkow with a .480 OBP the last two weeks, but he did it on the strength of 14 walks. He only had 15 walks over his first 26 games this year.

*Kaleb Freeman was freed up for more action at first base after the promotions of DePino and Shelton, but he's still shy of an everyday player. He's doing what he can, going 6-for-11 with a homer and a double against the Grasshoppers.

Pitchers

*Gabe Davis finally hit a snag in what was otherwise a smooth start to pro ball by giving up four runs on seven hits over 3 ⅓ innings his last time out against Greensboro. It was the first time he hadn't hit his four-inning limit with ease.

*Mason Adams is making rehab starts as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery, throwing a pair of easy two-inning outings.

*Grant Umberger gave up four runs over four innings to the Grasshoppers on Wednesday, which was better than his previous time facing Greensboro (seven runs over one-third of an inning).

*Seth Keener faced the Grasshoppers three times over six games. He picked up the win in the opener with 2 ⅓ scoreless innings, and then needed 37 pitches to get three outs over the other two.

*Pierce George has walked four batters over his last 3⅓ innings, after walking just three over his first 16. High-A is providing the challenge he needed.

*Mathias LaCombe made his Winston-Salem debut against Greensboro after ramping up in the ACL, and so far, so good (3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K).

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

• Last two series: 4-2 @Charleston, 6-0 vs. Myrtle Beach
• Record: 24-21
• Next two series: vs. Augusta, @Hickory
• Individual stats

Two weeks ago, the Cannon Ballers were in last place in the Carolina League South. After two winning series and an active seven-game winning streak, they're now third place out of a six-team division, and with a +22 run differential to boot.

There's steady improvement on the offensive side, but the Kannapolis pitching staff has made huge strides, particularly with control. The Cannon Ballers have the league's lowest walk rate over the past two weeks, and it's helped them post the lowest ERA over this most recent stretch.

Position Players

*Billy Carlson had himself a productive two weeks, hitting .324/.442/.471 over 10 games. He's still only displaying doubles power, but as Caleb Bonemer showed last year, that's perfectly OK for a teenager provided there is a steady supply of them, and he averaged one every other game. We'll see if this holds, and if so, whether an elevated strikeout rate is part of the deal.

*Jaden Fauske is the rare player flashing triples power, as that's his most popular form of extra-base hit after hitting two triples and four singles over the last 10 games. He drew eight walks to offset the impact of the slump.

*Javier Mogollón finished his fortnight in an 0-for-8 slump, but had hit safely in the previous 11 games. He's also a perfect 10-for-10 in stolen bases this month, and the strikeouts have calmed down considerably, so there isn't much left for him to show at Low-A.

*Rylan Galvan finally hit his first double of the season. Also, 18 of his 31 plate appearances from the past two weeks resulted in a walk or strikeout.

*Abraham Nunez had a strong fortnight at the top of the order, hitting .316/.447/.474. He also stole six bases in seven attempts, getting himself over 50 percent in that category after an abysmal start to his running game this season.

*Matthew Boughton had no walks or HBPs over the last 11 games while hitting two sac flies, which is how he's hitting .211/.200/.237 over this stretch. Low-A seemed like a tall order for a small-school prep player, and it's looking that way thus far.

*Alexander Albertus is living the dream, in the sense that he's regularly playing full, consecutive games at the infield corners without issue. The resumption of his Low-A career is off to a quiet start, though (.241/.343/.310).

Pitchers

*Blaine Wynk has gone three consecutive three-inning outings without issuing a walk after dealing with control issues out of the gate. Consequently, it's been four games without hitting even 50 pitches, so perhaps his limit will rise soon.

*Truman Pauley also started throwing more strikes, relatively speaking. He still issued five walks over 9⅔ innings, but he allowed just six hits while striking out 17, so he's providing a picture of how it's supposed to look.

*Max Banks has allowed just three runs (one earned) and two walks over his last 29 innings, which is award-winning stuff even if he's old for the level.

ACL White Sox

• Record: 5-10
• Individual stats

On one hand, the ACL White Sox are losing as twice as many games as they've won. As we'll talk about in Wednesday morning's Minor Keys, they've been able to field a team for every game they've played, and they haven't been blown out by comical proportions in any of them. Based on the way the complex ball leagues have started this season, that's a win.

Position Players

It's largely a sea of unimpressive numbers, with even the top performer, Eduardo Herrera, in the middle of a 1-for-16 slump. Yordani Soto's bat has shown life over the last two weeks, but with a 40 percent strikeout rate. The biggest news is the arrival of two outfielders after delayed starts, Christian Gonzalez and Nick McLain. The latter hadn't been seen in more than a year, as a back injury has limited him to 13 games since the White Sox selected him in the third round back in 2024.

Pitchers

With Mason Adams and Mathias LaCombe graduating from their ramp-up periods at the complex, there's a lack of name-brand pitching in the complex. Blake Larson is building up and is said to be close to games, perhaps in the next couple of weerks.

As for the active pitchers, Cesar Familia is holding his own at 18. Diego Perez is just 17, and it shows in the sense that he's averaging more than three free bases per inning when accounting for his three HBPs.

White Sox Minor Keys: May 25, 2026

ACL Mariners 12, ACL White Sox 3

• Nick McLain made his 2026 debut, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
• Alejandor Cruz was 1-for-4 with a double and a stolen base.
• Yordani Soto and Eduardo Herrera both wore the collar and silver sombrero; Herrera was caught stealing.
• Jose Mendoza went 2-for-4.
• Jordan Rich, 1-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts.
• Landon Hodge was 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
• Cesar Familia: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K