White Sox Minor Keys: May 16, 2026

Over Chris Getz's tenure as general manager, we've become so accustomed to the White Sox rummaging through the waiver wire and making DFA trades to solve immediate crises that it becomes the default scope for midseason transactions.

In that sense, the trade that he swung with the Athletics on Saturday afternoon, in which the White Sox acquired 24-year-old Triple-A outfielder Junior Pérez for 23-year-old A-ball reliever Jackson Nove, confuses.

The Athletics designated Pérez for assignment on Thursday after he opened the season hitting .210/.273/.384 with 51 strikeouts over 154 plate appearances for Las Vegas, and with Everson Pereira and Austin Hays supposedly nearing rehab stints, the White Sox don't really have a pressing need for a right-handed outfielder, particularly one who appears to be a sizable project.

But while Pérez required a 40-man roster spot, he has three options remaining. Charlotte's been dealing with a shortage of right-handed hitters, and Braden Montgomery is the only high-minors outfielder of note now that Samuel Zavala has cooled off, so the White Sox have plenty of space to try to get somebody right in Charlotte if and when the rehab stints are complete.

Pérez generated a little bit of heat for the way he finished 2025,. hitting .298/.412/.642 over 42 games with Las Vegas, and with a playable 27 percent strikeout rate. The contact rate was a concern despite the production, which is why he ranked 20th in the Athletics' system per Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, but Eric Longenhagen put a 45 FV on him entering the season, which was good enough for eighth, although he brought up the rear of the 45 FV types.

Perez has plus bat speed and good enough timing to damage pitches in the zip code of the zone’s center, which he sprays to all fields. He lacks great bat control, and swings underneath a ton of in-zone fastballs and breaking balls that find the top and bottom edges of the box, respectively. Perez’s 74% in-zone contact rate would be one of the three lowest among qualified big leaguers since 2024, and he posted that mark mostly at Double-A. This makes his hit tool feel flimsy and gives him strikeout-driven bust risk. The good news is that his selectivity at the dish means he tends to target pitches he can handle, and he does a good amount of damage when he makes contact.

The piece of Perez’s profile that will actually give him room to strike out at an elevated clip is his defense, which has improved across the last few seasons to the point where he can now play a passable center field. Perez is a plus runner and takes fairly efficient routes to balls hit into the gaps and over his head, and he also has a good arm. 

Will Venable offered the White Sox's view of him before Saturday's game, which hits on a lot of the same notes.

"I looked at a couple videos, talked briefly with the front office about him," Venable said. "Right-handed hitting outfielder, above-average defense, some swing-and-miss in his game, had a really good year last year and hasn’t found it at the plate this year. A little bit of a higher strikeout rate, but a guy that hits lefties really well, producing different things. I think, a guy that we can go to work on and help progress at the plate. At his floor, a really good defender that can run the bases, a really good athlete."

Nove struck out 41 batters against 16 hits and 10 walks over 23 innings for Kannapolis. The lefty was old for the level, but he was an undrafted free agent out of Kentucky, so he did what he could where he was told to go.

Norfolk 11, Charlotte 10

• Rikuu Nishida went 1-for-3 with a walk, sac fly and stolen base.
• Braden Montgomery was 1-for-4 with a homer, walk and strikeout.
• Kyle Teel caught seven innings, finishing 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Jacob Gonzalez homered twice, including a grand slam, while going 2-for-5 with a strikeout.
• Ryan Galanie singled and struck out twice.
• Shane Murphy: 5 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 5 HR, 64 of 96 pitches for strikes.

Highlights:

*Gonzalez's two homers were Charlotte Specials, one at 113.6 mph ...

... and 90.2 mph.

Both paled in comparison to a 113.6 mph lineout.

*Montgomery's blast was 106.2 mph the other way:

Rocket City 14, Birmingham 6

• Samuel Zavala was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• Colby Shelton went 1-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts.
• Anthony DePino, 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Jeral Perez showed signs of life, going 2-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout.

Winston-Salem 8, Wilmington 3

• Kyle Lodise came a double shy of the cycle during a 3-for-4 night, striking out once.
• Caleb Bonemer was 0-for-4 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
• Boston Smith singled, walked twice and struck out once.
• George Wolkow wwas 0-for-3 with a sac bunt and two strikeouts.

Charleston 4, Kannapolis 3

• Abraham Nunez singled, struck out thrice and stole a base.
• Billy Carlson was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• Jaden Fauske, 1-for-4 with a triple.
• Javier Mogollón was 1-for-4 with two stolen bases.
• Matthew Boughton wore the collar and silver sombrero.
• Rylan Galvan, 1-for-3 with a homer and a strikeout.
• Alexander Albertus, 0-for-3.
• Blaine Wynk: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K