White Sox Minor Keys: May 13, 2026

Six hundred and fifty-three days after the White Sox traded for him, Alexander Albertus finally played his first game for Low-A Kannapolis, doubling twice and walking twice in the Cannon Ballers' 14-7 win over Charleston Wednesday night.

It was supposed to happen a lot sooner, because at the time the White Sox traded for him as part of the return from Los Angeles alongside Miguel Vargas and Jeral Perez in the Erick Fedde/Michael Kopech deal at the 2024 trade deadline, he was a 19-year-old playing his first few weeks at Low-A Rancho Cucamonga in the Dodgers system. But the Aruba native had suffered a stress reaction in his tibia a week before the trade that was expected to knock him out for the last month and change of the minor league season, and while the White Sox said "it is not considered to be serious," the aftermath couldn't have been much more arduous.

Albertus finally surfaced in game action for the White Sox organization in the Arizona Complex League last June, but he couldn't play in complete or consecutive games, and was shut down after eight appearances spread out over two-plus weeks.

This time, rehabilitation appears to have stuck. Prior to his Kannapolis debut, he played in four complete ACL games, and while only one of them was back-to-back, that's more a fault of the schedule.

Over the time he missed, he went from playing all over the infield to being limited to corner spots with the White Sox. He also went from being well younger than the competition to age appropriate, and he'll be Rule 5 draft eligible after the season. The White Sox won't have to consider protecting him this winter; Albertus reaching minor league free agency after the 2027 season is the bigger deadline to mind. Either way, the runway is considerably shorter than what the White Sox originally envisioned, so let's see if Albertus can make up for lost time.

Norfolk 9, Charlotte 8

• Rikuu Nishida went 3-for-5, and was caught stealing.
• Braden Montgomery hit his first career Triple-A homer during a 1-for-5 night, striking out once.
• Kyle Teel DH'd and went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Jacob Gonzalez was 2-for-5 with his 11th homer and two strikeouts.
• Ryan Galanie went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Jonathan Cannon: 4 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, 46 of 77 pitches for strikes.

Highlights:

*Whether it's leaving the yard under 100 mph the opposite way or homering off a 36-year-old Albert Suárez, Montgomery did a nice job taking what Triple-A gives him.

Rocket City 7, Birmingham 6

• Samuel Zavala went 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Colby Shelton hit his first career Double-A homer during a 1-for-5 night, striking out once.
• Anthony DePino went 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.
• Jeral Perez singled, walked and struck out twice.
• Lucas Gordon: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 54 of 87 pitches for strikes.
• Riley Gowens: 2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 23 of 33 pitches for strikes.

Highlights:

*Shelton just missed hitting his first Birmingham homer on Tuesday, but he got enough of this one.

Wilmington 10, Winston-Salem 5

• Kyle Lodise was 0-for-2 with three walks, and was caught stealing.
• Caleb Bonemer went 1-for-3 with a walk, strikeout, sac fly and CS.
• Boston Smith went 0-for-2 with a sac fly and a walk.
• George Wolkow, 1-for-4 with a double.
• Gabe Davis: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 41 of 64 pitches for strikes.

Kannapolis 14, Charleston 7

• Abraham Nunez went 1-for-5 with two walks and a strikeout.
• Billy Carlson was 0-for-2 with two walks, two HBPs and a strikeout.
• Matthew Boughton singled in his only plate appearance before being replaced by ...
• ... Javier Mogollón, who went 3-for-5 with a stolen base.
• Rylan Galvan went 2-for-5 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Alexander Albertus made his Low-A debut, going 2-for-3 with two doubles, two walks and a sac fly.

Notes:

*The Cannon Ballers drew 13 walks on top of three plunkings over nine innings.

ACL White Sox 4, ACL Royals 2 (7 innings)

• Yordani Soto went 1-for-2 with a walk at the plate, and 1-for-2 on the basepaths.
• Jordan Rich was 1-2 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Jose Mendoza struck out all three times.
• Frank Mieses hit his first stateside homer, finishing 1-for-3 with a strikeout.
• Prelander Berroa walked the only batter he faced in his first rehab appearance, which doesn't seem good.
• Cesar Familia: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
• Mathias LaCombe: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K