White Sox Minor Keys: July 3, 2026

At the end of May, we kicked off a Minor Keys by discussing an article by Yahoo! Sports' Jake Mintz about the concerning state of rookie ball, symbolized by many teams lacking the pitching to routinely play nine innings. That limits the reps for young prospects who need them the most, and puts them in a position of being unready for promotions to full-season affiliates.

Earlier this week, The Athletic's Brittany Ghiroli took an equally dispiriting look at the quality of minor league play. Except while Mintz took a bottom-up approach, Ghiroli starts at the top and works her way down, focusing on Triple-A rosters that have less and less room for players who know how to play Triple-A baseball well, which further compromises rosters that might be shorter than they appear.

It’s common for big-league teams to ask their Triple-A affiliates to hold two or three pitchers out of a game in case the MLB club needs reinforcements. Or for a Triple-A pitcher to be held to 40 or 50 pitches to remain a potential option for a team unsure if a big-league starter will make his next turn. Some teams are more likely to sit players with minor injuries rather than put them on the injured list, and those players count toward the roster limit unless they’re placed on the 60-day IL.

As a result, many executives feel like it’s impossible to build roster depth. One AL player development exec described the nightly struggle to piece together a Triple-A pitching plan as “constantly playing with our backs against the wall.” A former manager said that at least twice a week he’d start a Triple-A game with no clue how to get through it.

That improvisation can include position players pitching when the score is out of hand, which further warps the quality of competition, especially in high-scoring environments.

This degradation runs the risk of being exacerbated if owners get their wish of further paring down roster limits and outsourcing player development to colleges. Such cuts may not survive CBA negotiations, but it hints at their priorities, and one source Ghiroli wished teams that prioritized minor league baseball differently could be free to put more money toward it.

Added an NL player development executive: “You eliminated some levels, which saves operating expenses that teams had to cover, but don’t double down and do roster caps. Let us carry 40 if we want. Let someone else carry 25. Push the power back to the states and let every team behave differently. That could also improve the quality of play.”

Memphis 4, Charlotte 3 (11 innings)

• Rikuu Nishida went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Ryan Galanie singled, hit a sac fly, struck out thrice and stole a base.
• Edgar Quero was 1-for-5 with a homer and a strikeout.
• Joe Rock: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 14 of 32 pitches for strikes.
• Duncan Davitt: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 27 of 42 pitches for strikes.

Birmingham 2, Montgomery 0 (7 innings)

• Caleb Bonemer went 0-for-2 with a strikeout.
• Anthony DePino and Colby Shelton both were 0-for-2.
• Boston Smith homered and struck out.
• So did Samuel Zavala.

Notes:

*The game was only seven innings because a rain delay pushed the start time beyond 9 p.m.

Winston-Salem 7, Greenville 1

• Jeral Perez was 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• George Wolkow went 2-for-4 with a double and a sac fly.
• Max Banks: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 51 of 88 pitches for strikes.
• Seth Keener: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 7 of 23 pitches for strikes.

Kannapolis 7, Wilson 1

• Jaden Fauske went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Matthew Boughton singled twice, struck out thrice and stole a base.
• Alexander Albertus went 3-for-5 with a stolen base.
• Christian Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a homer and a walk.

Highlights:

*Gonzalez's first A-ball homer:

ACL White Sox 5, ACL Brewers 4 (7 innings)

• Jordan Rich singled twice, struck out once and was caught stealing.
• Yordani Soto was 0-for-3.
• Landon Hodge went 1-for-2 with a walk.
• Eduardo Herrera, 2-for-3 with a homer.
• Blake Larson: 2 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

Notes:

*The hit and two walks came in Larson's third inning of work, and all the runners came around to score.

DSL White Sox 10, DSL Cardinals 6 (7 innings)

• Fernando Graterol went 2-for-3 with a homer, sac fly, walk and two stolen bases.
• Carlos Vielma went 1-for-4 with a sac fly, two strikeouts and a stolen base.
• Sebastian Romero was 0-for-3 with a walk, two strikeouts and two stolen bases.
• Ronald Cardozo, 3-for-4 with a double.
• Samuel Luis went 1-for-3.
• Franchel Crisóstomo: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K