Farm Fortnight: Now with six White Sox teams, soon without Braden Montgomery

The White Sox preempted our usual every-other-Tuesday Farm Fortnight excitement by promoting Braden Montgomery in advance of Tuesday night's opener of the Atlanta Braves, but while the organization will lose its No. 2 prospect to the big league roster, our biweekly progress report adds some quantity, as the Dominican Summer League opened play last week.

That gives us a sixth White Sox minor league team and a dozen more White Sox prospects to follow for the next two months. Let's get to it.

Fortnight's Finest

Position player: Braden Montgomery. He barged his way into the White Sox's plans by hitting .439/.556/.659 with two homers, three doubles, and perhaps most importantly, 11 walks to nine strikeouts over 54 plate appearances. The contact rates and ground-ball rates have been going in the right direction, so now we'll see how they hold up against major league pitching.

Pitcher: Hagen Smith. You'd still like to see him go deeper into games, as he's completed five innings just once this season, but at least he's resumed being near impossible to square up when hitters have to consider swinging. He walked six batters and plunked two others over his last 14 innings, but allowed just nine hits while striking out 25.

Charlotte Knights

• Last three series: 3-3 vs. Jacksonville; 6-0 @Durham
• Record: 35-28
• Next two series: vs. Oklahoma City, @Buffalo
• Individual stats

There's no reason to say "Break up the Charlotte Knights" when the White Sox just called up Montgomery, but they are on a roll, sweeping the Bulls in Durham to pull within 3½ games of first-place Rochester in the International League East.

They're doing it the Charlotte way -- by bludgeoning their opponents. They've widened their International League lead in runs per game, averaging 6.56 when no other team is averaging 6.0, and the St. Paul Saints are the only other team scoring 5.7. Their middle-of-the-pack run-prevention performance (11th out of 20 at 5.1 runs per game) is impressive considering the starting pitching pool hasn't been as deep as the White Sox figured.

Position Players

*Braden Montgomery probably won't be here in two weeks, so...

*Junior Pérez will need some company in order to make this section not something to scroll past. He hit just .206/.289/.324 with 16 strikeouts in eight games the past two weeks. Maybe William Bergolla Jr. will be playing by then.

*Everson Pereira is proceeding through his rehab stint while Austin Hays is not, but with Montgomery's promotion, the outfield picture will be more crowded than it was when Pereira started his road back.

Pitchers

*Smith leads the International League with strikeouts, with one more than Bruce Zimmermann despite throwing 14 fewer innings.

*Duncan Davitt hasn't completed five innings in any of his last three starts, allowing 11 runs over 11 innings over that stretch. In an ideal world, either he or Jonathan Cannon would look worthy of spot starts, but they aren't there right now.

*Shane Murphy also failed to complete five innings his last time out, but that was the first time he came up short of qualifying for a win in 11 starts. He's serving a purpose, even if his charmed season in Birmingham in 2025 is proving to be unsustainable.

*Ben Peoples gave up four runs over his first 19 appearances, and then gave up four runs over two-thirds of an inning against Jacksonville on May 30. He's since bounced back with three consecutive scoreless innings, but that's what regression looks like. Joe Rock also had a bit of a relapse against his former team, giving up four runs on three hits and two walks over two-thirds of an inning against Durham his last time out, but that didn't prevent him from being called up to give the White Sox some length out of the bullpen.

Birmingham Barons

• Last two series: 3-3 vs. Pensacola; 2-4 @Knoxville
• Record: 21-35
• Next two series: vs. Biloxi, @Pensacola
• Individual stats

The Barons enter a fresh series against Biloxi on a four-game losing streak, and pitching continues to be the sore spot, allowing the most runs per game (6.14) by a comfortable margin (Columbus is next at 5.39). Their run differential took a hit with their 19-run loss at Rickwood Field, and then they gave up at least six runs in five of six games at Knoxville, with the exception being a Dylan Cumming-led 2-0 victory on Wednesday.

I caught four of those games in person, and relayed findings from a number of conversations in a big Barons notebook on Monday.

Position Players

*Jeral Perez hit a woeful .135/.273/.203 over 22 games in May, but he showed signs of a turnaround during the Knoxville series, going 7-for-22 with a homer and two doubles.

*Samuel Zavala is back to his old formula -- lots of walks, lots of strikeouts, not enough power to think it'll work, as he hit .225/.418/.250 over 12 games. Also, he was placed on the Temporarily Inactive List last month because Minor League Baseball doesn't have a paternity list. Congratulations to the new dad.

*Colby Shelton is still finding Double-A to be a challenge, as he's hitting .156/.238/.311 over his first 23 games with Birmingham. The hard contact isn't coming as easily as it did in Winston-Salem, but he's also running a .169 BABIP, which is hard to do.

*Anthony DePino is cruising, hitting .333/.481/.513 with two homers over his last 12 games. The strikeout rate is also coming down, as he whiffed just seven times against 11 walks over 54 plate appearances. All good here.

Pitchers

*Lucas Gordon went three straight starts without allowing homer, then gave up five over his last 12⅓ innings in three starts against Pensacola and Knoxville. He can maybe survive with an elevated walk rate or an elevated home run rate, but both are death.

*Connor McCullough was the first of five pitchers to get roughed up at Rickwood Field, giving up eight runs and 14 baserunners over 2⅓ innings, but he recovered with a pair of decent four-inning outings against Knoxville.

*Gabe Davis has thrown one start's worth of pitches over his two outings with Birmingham, and the line reflects the highs and lows: 7.2 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 BB, 10 K.

Winston-Salem Dash

• Last two series: 4-2 vs. Rome; 3-3 vs. Hub City
• Record: 33-24
• Next series: @Greenville, vs. Greensboro
• Individual stats

The Winston-Salem Dash cornered the market on quiet games in the White Sox system, going 9-7 against Rome and Hub City despite scoring just 45 total runs because Winston-Salem pitchers allowed just 44. They won the first three games of the Hub City series with a total of five runs, including a pair of 2-1 victories where they only totaled two hits in each game.

The Dash then scored 17 runs over the final three games of that series and lost all three, but at least that means their top position-player prospect is heating up again.

Position Players

*Caleb Bonemer is breaking out of a prolonged slump in a big way. Not only is he 5-for-12 over his last three games, but all of those hits went for extra bases (two homers, a triple and two doubles), and he struck out just once against two walks and two HBPs. That's a welcome development, as he hit just .214/.396/.405 with 33 strikeouts over 111 plate appearances in May, then opened June 1-for-11 with five K's.

*Kyle Lodise hasn't been able to shake his slump. He went 4-for-41 with eight walks and 16 strikeouts over the Rome and Hub City series, which has sent his average plummeting back below .200.

*George Wolkow wasn't able to sustain his award-winning performance from the previous fortnight, hitting .143/.240/.262 over 12 games. That said, the strikeouts were reasonable (13 over 50 plate appearances), and two of his hits provided the necessary runs in the aforementioned 2-1 victories.

*Boston Smith missed the last three games of the Rome series, during which he extended his slump to 1-for-15 with eight strikeouts, but he bounced back with a strong performance against Hub City (5-for-17, homer, double).

Pitchers

*Mason Adams is is completing three innings with relative ease as he ramps up from Tommy John surgery. The question is whether he's a little too hittable at High-A, or whether he merely looks like his usual contact-managing self.

*Grant Umberger threw five shutout innings against Rome to open the fortnight, but showed diminishing returns over his next two starts (6.1 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 7 BB, 4 K).

*Seth Keener tends to have the occasional effective multi-appearance that is nullified by the game(s) that immediately follow(s), and the Hub City series was no different. He pitched 1 ⅔ scoreless innings on Tuesday, then failed to retire any of the three batters he faced on Sunday, although an error had something to do with that.

*Pierce George had a tough time managing the Manfred Man in a pair of extra innings against Hub City on Friday, but was dominant in his other four outings the last two series (3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K).

*Mathias LaCombe allowed his first run of the season on Wednesday, but 1) it was a two-inning appearance, and 2) he picked up his first professional win, so the start to his relief career continues to be a smooth one.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

• Last two series: 2-4 vs. Augusta; 3-3 @Hickory
• Record: 29-28
• Next two series: vs. Fredericksburg, @Fayetteville
• Individual stats

The Kannapolis offense also went into hiding the last two weeks, scoring a Carolina League-low 42 runs over 12 games and hitting .196/.303/.329 as a team. They lost Billy Carlson for the next month or two, and the other prep picks haven't found traction in their first professional seasons.

They're now averaging the fewest runs per game on the season (4.40), although they still have a positive run differential because the pitching staff is the league's stingiest (4.25). It'd just be a little more exciting if it weren't also the oldest staff in the Carolina League.

Position Players

*Billy Carlson suffered a non-displaced fracture of the tip of his left thumb back on May 23, and it's expected to take 4-6 weeks to heal.

*Jaden Fauske went 2-for-5 with a double on Sunday, which was a welcome sight after going 1-for-24 over his previous six games. He drew just one walk during the Hickory series, which is uncharacteristic for him.

*Javier Mogollón is having an even tougher time. He hit just .154/.233/.308 with 19 strikeouts over his last 10 games, following an 0-for-8 finish to his previous fortnight. Even his speed is slumping, as he went just 2-for-5 on the basepaths.

*Rylan Galvan struck out in 18 of his 34 plate appearances, and is running a Three True Outcome rate of 69.9 percent this season.

*Abraham Nunez hit .217/.321/.304 over the last two games, which almost looks like a hot streak compared to the rest of the lineup.

*Matthew Boughton started introducing walks to the mix, as seven of his 10 BBs have come over the last two weeks. He went just 4-for-32 during this stretch, and all of them were singles, so it's not yet reflective of a comprehensively better approach.

*Alexander Albertus didn't draw any walks the last two weeks, so it's not like Boughton was benefiting from especially wild pitching. He went 8-for-33 with a homer and a triple, but didn't get on base any other way.

Pitchers

*Blaine Wynk had his first start of the fortnight against Augusta cut short after an ineffective inning due to illness, but he bounced back with three scoreless innings against Hickory.

*Truman Pauley continues to be a wild ride, stuffing the stat sheet over three starts, two of them against the Crawdads: 11.2 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 9 BB, 13 K, 2 HR, 3 HBP.

*Max Banks, the White Sox's Minor League Pitcher of the Month for May, had completed five innings in seven consecutive starts before coming up one out short over 4⅔ tough innings aganist Hickory on Saturday. He's allowed the occasional clunker.

ACL White Sox

• Record: 10-17
• Individual stats

The ACL White Sox are at the bottom of the 15-team league averaging 3.85 runs per game, but that number is trending upward, as pockets of the lineup are starting to find their footing in stateside rookie ball. They've also received an influx of name-brand talent, with Nick McLain, Eddie Park and Juan Carela all working through lengthy rehab stints, and Christian Oppor dropping down from Double-A in an attempt to get right.

Position Players

McLain seems like he's ready for an affiliate, as he's playing full games. Gonzalez has missed the last week, but he's replaced by 2023 eighth-rounder Park, who missed all of 2025. Among the prospects who figure to spend all of the ACL season at Camelback Ranch, Soto is the guy who has turned it up a notch, hitting .429/.500/.905 over the last two weeks, and the strikeout rate is coming down as well.

Pitchers

Carela is working his way back from Tommy John surgery, hoping to follow in Adams' footsteps with a smooth progression back to full-season affiliated ball. Oppor returned to the ACL for a more discouraging reason, and he's posted a discouraging line over his two starts there (4 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 BB, 7 K, 1 HBP).

Familia continues to post decent showings, but Perez is a poster boy for the some critical issues that are jeopardizing the future of the low minors. Shepardson hasn't pitched since May 22.

DSL White Sox

• Record: 3-3
• Individual stats

All of this talk about offenses struggling, and here the DSL White Sox, averaging 8 runs per game while hitting .320/.454/.517 as a team. They've only played six games, but they're welcome to maintain this level of production. For more information, consult your local DSL White Sox season preview.

Position Players

Romero, who signed the second-largest bonus of the White Sox's latest international class at $1.5 million is off to a fantastic start. Vielma, who signed for $400,000 out of Venezuela, has been even better. Graterol, who signed the leading bonus at $1.6 million, has been introduced slowly, appearing in consecutive games on June 4-5, but not appearing behind the plate.

Pitchers

It's haves and have-nots on the pitching side early here, and that's characteristic of an entire staff that's averaging 8.83 runs allowed per game. That said, the $275,000 signing Marté is off to the most impressive start on the staff, especially when considering he's 16.

White Sox Minor Keys: June 8, 2026

ACL White Sox 13, ACL Guardians 6

• Nick McLain is now playing full games in center field, finishing 0-for-4 with two walks and a strikeout. He was also caught stealing.
• Eddie Park is also active, going 1-for-3 with his second professional homer and a walk.
• Alejandro Cruz was 2-for-4 with a double, walk, strikeout and two stolen bases.
• Landon Hodge walked thrice, struck out twice and stole a base.
• Jose Mendoza went 2-for-5 with two homers and two strikeouts.
• Yordani Soto singled in his only plate appearance and was picked off/caugt stealing.
• Jordan Rich was 2-for-4 with an HBP and two steals.
• Juan Carela: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

DSL White Sox 9, DSL Rockies 3

• Felix Lebron was 2-for-4 with an HBP at the plate and 2-for-3 on the basepaths.
• Carlos Vielma went 2-for-3 with a walk.
• Sebastian Romero went 3-for-4 with two homers.
• Ronald Cardozo went 2-for-4 with two triples.
• Samuel Luis went 0-for-3.
• Yordany Marte: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP