Farm Fortnight: Trades reduce ranks in White Sox farm system, but here comes Roch Cholowsky

Chris Getz made it through the trade deadline without trading any top prospects, but his farm system -- and the Minor Keys, and Farm Fortnight -- will look a little bit thinner after the four deals the White Sox made over the last 48 hours.

You won't have Boston Smith's gaudy numbers inviting curiosity and optimism anymore, as the Sox traded him to Seattle for Luis Castillo. Using Gabe Davis and Mason Adams in packages for Huascar Brazobán and Brenton Doyle, respectively, remove a couple of mildly intriguing prospects from a crop of pitchers that had already taken a collective step backward.

That said, all of those lesser storylines will be put on the back burner, because Roch Cholowsky will be making his professional debut for Winston-Salem Tuesday night, and the first step of the organization's first No. 1 overall pick since 1977 figures to be a pretty big deal, no matter what it ends up looking like.

Fortnight's Finest

Position player: Colby Shelton. Starting around Mother's Day, the transition to Double-A proved difficult, but Shelton appeared to be turning it around in early July before an 0-for-15 spell in the middle of the month reset his numbers. He rebounded to hit .436/.465/.897, with 10 extra-base hits, 11 RBIs and 11 runs scored over his last 10 games.

Pitcher: Hagen Smith. Were Jonathan Cannon a prospect, he'd win this one going away for allowing two runs over an incredibly efficient 12 innings. But if we're limiting it to players who haven't accrued more than a full season's worth of major league innings and service time, then Smith gets the nod among a thin group for an impressive series of relief outings that lend credence to the idea that he could provide a late-season boost to the White Sox bullpen.

Charlotte Knights

• Last three series: 5-1 vs. Norfolk; 3-3 @Nashville
• Record: 58-50 (16-17 in second half)
• Next two series: vs. Durham, @Rochester
• Individual stats

After watching the Charlotte Knights play six games against the Nashville Sounds the past week, it's fair to say that Chad Pinder has a staff largely composed of rosterable pitchers, especially with José Urquidy joining via trade to give the rotation a starter who can throw five innings or more every time.

The lineup is pretty thin, especially since William Bergolla Jr. is out for the year with a stress fracture in his right fibula, and Austin Hays is on track to see his rehab stint all the way through this week. It'd help if Everson Pereira somehow slipped through waivers, but that doesn't seem like something to bank on. Edgar Quero slugging .235 in the majors and playing once per series until Kyle Teel returns isn't the most compelling watch. Edgar Quero as a 23-year-old with former top-100 prospect pedigree getting starter reps at Triple-A to try to build off a recent spate of encouraging swings might be more intriguing.

Position Players

*Rikuu Nishida reached base 24 times over 10 games -- nine singles, a double and 13 walks. He's great to have on a Triple-A roster for a lot of reasons, but watching him over six games in Nashville, he creates so many more plate appearances for guys behind him.

*Ryan Galanie took advantage of those extra plate appearances, going 11-for-35 with three homers and a triple over 10 games the last two series. He's also drawn three walks over the last four games after drawing just three over his previous 23.

Pitchers

*Hagen Smith aced all four relief appearances against Norfolk and Nashville, whether it was multiple innings, back-to-back days, or middle of an inning. He finished the fortnight allowing just one hit and zero walks over 4 ⅓ scoreless innings while striking out eight.

*Tanner McDougal doesn't look quite as sharp as Smith, walking seven batters and plunking two others over 10⅔ innings, but he's been able to contain control issues to individual plate appearances, as seven of his nine relief appearances have been scoreless.

*Shane Smith is still fighting to get back to his 2025 form of pushing hitters around with fastballs. Right now, neither the command nor the velocity is quite there. He shows flashes, but it's not sticking.

*David Sandlin missed a start due to a lower-body issue, but returned to throw 3⅓ innings against Nashville. He had a four-inning limit, but command loosened on him late.

*Jonathan Cannon has been the Knights' steadiest starter, even when he's not technically starting. His last two games have been bulk appearances, and he threw six easy innings each time, requiring just 74 pitches against Norfolk, and 64 against Nashville.

*Jaden Woods got punched in the face with four runs over two-thirds of an inning in his White Sox org debut against Durham, but the last two weeks show why the White Sox traded Brandon Eisert for him: 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K.

Birmingham Barons

• Last two series: 2-4 @Montgomery; 5-1 vs. Chattanooga
• Record: 41-61 (15-18 in second half)
• Next two series: @Rocket City, vs. Columbus
• Individual stats

Remember last season, when the Birmingham Barons repeated as Southern League champions while hitting 52 homers all season? Well, these Barons just hit 49 homers over 24 games in July alone. They're not going to be able to three-peat despite the huge power numbers, so is all the power hitting worth it? Probably.

The pitching staff was temporarily buoyed by Drew Thorpe's triumphant return to Birmingham as part of his Tommy John surgery rehab, but he'll be moving on, leaving a cast of incumbents to try to figure out Double-A before the season is over.

Position Players

*Caleb Bonemer saw his resurgent July all the way through the finish, hitting .273/.371/.623 over 21 games at Double-A. If only he didn't strike out six times over his last nine plate appearances, which raised his July K rate more than 5 percent in two games, finishing at 28.1 percent for the month.

*Anthony DePino pulled out of a pretty lengthy slump, even if the production is still on the muted side. He hit .238/.319/.429 over the last 12 games. Side note: I'm wondering how a guy who played all of his amateur ball in the Northeast is faring 100 games into his first season in the Southeast.

*Colby Shelton started the fortnight extending a slump to 0-for-15, but finished it hitting safely in nine of his last 10 games, including a three-homer game against Chattanooga on July 28. He went from a .597 OPS in June to a 1.016 OPS in July.

*Samuel Zavala had a four-hit game against Montgomery on July 25, and went 4-for-32 over the other 11 games. He did homer twice, reaching double-digits in dingers for the first time in his three seasons in the White Sox organization.

*Ryan Burrowes earned a post-draft promotion to Birmingham after hitting .325/.441/.636 over 20 July games with Winston-Salem. It's a quiet start over his first six games with Birmingham, but he's finding ways to get on base (four singles, four walks over 24 plate appearances).

*James Taussig bashed his way into Birmingham after holding a four-digit OPS over 40 games with Winston-Salem (1.019). His first two games at Double-A have been hitless, with one walk against four strikeouts.

Pitchers

*Drew Thorpe is up and running after a very delayed start to his season, and he threw four scoreless innings against Chattanooga on July 30, allowing just one hit while striking out five and using just 43 pitches. He's scheduled for five innings with the Barons on Wednesday, before moving on to Charlotte.

*Lucas Gordon had done a pretty good job of limiting walks in July until he issued six of them over 4 ⅓ innings against Chattanooga on July 29. It's a testament to his changeup that righties aren't a problem (.206/.299/.412), but lefties are killing him (.291/.385/.544). He is the first pitcher in system to reach 100 minor league innings this season, so that's something.

*Juan Carela missed a start on the injured list, but returned to throw three innings against Chattnaooga on Friday. It was his worst start of three in Double-A, as he allowed four runs over three innings, but we'll see if it was just a small setback in an otherwise smooth recovery from Tommy John surgery.

*Connor McCullough threw a hitless outing for the second time in his last three starts when he posted five scoreless innings against Chattanooga. He issued only one walk while tying a season high with seven strikeouts, making it his best start of the year by far.

*Pierce George threw a pair of scoreless outings against Chattanooga (3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K) after two games to forget against Montgomery (2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K). The hope is that he's found some footing after encountering sustained turbulence in Double-A.

*Mathias LaCombe has faced the same immediate struggles at Double-A, allowing 11 runs on 10 hits and five walks over his first 5⅔ innings with Birmingham. His last outing was a 1-2-3 inning on 15 pitches against Chattanooga on Sunday.

Winston-Salem Dash

• Last two series: 3-3 vs. Greensboro; 3-3 @Brooklyn
• Record: 56-46 (18-18 in second half)
• Next series: vs. Asheville, @Greensboro
• Individual stats

The streaming numbers for Winston-Salem Dash games are about to surge through the roof when Cholowsky makes his professional debut Tuesday night. Fans who aren't familiar with the rest of the roster might find it difficult to find players who command comparable attention, unless George Wolkow does something cool.

Position Players

*Kyle Lodise has produced a few series that seem to hint at breakouts, but are instead followed by slumps. Let's see what he does after going 9-for-29 with four homers and eight walks over his last eight games.

*George Wolkow had a tough two weeks, hitting .196/.260/.326 over 11 games against Greensboro and Brooklyn. His one homer was a grand slam, but it extends a slog dating back to the All-Star break.

*Jeral Perez had been enjoying a rebound in his return to Winston-Salem, but the last two weeks haven't helped his stock (.163/.240/.209). After hitting 22 homers with the Dash in 2025, he might struggle to reach double digits, even with more favorable power environments.

*Javier Mogollón and Nick McLain were thrust upward due to the incoming draft class, even though the former was still getting untracked after returning from a hamstring issue, and the latter hadn't quite hit at Kannapolis the way you'd expect from a third-round major-program bat. That said, High-A pitching didn't appear to overwhelm them in their first series with the Dash.

*Ben Hartl can mostly be judged by how Ben Peoples is faring in Texas, since it was a 1-for-1 trade that wasn't prompted by anything in particular. Peoples is superficially successful (2.19 ERA) through his first 12⅓ MLB innings, although with frightening peripherals (3 HR, 3 BB, 6 K) that lead to a 6.26 FIP. Perhaps the Sox knew they were going to be trading Boston Smith and just wanted to infuse a catcher they were mildly intrigued by?

Pitchers

*Christian Oppor threw a 1-2-3 inning on 15 pitches his last time out, which is three times as many batters as he retired in his first three appearances back in Winston-Salem (0.1 IP, 1 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 8 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP).

*Max Banks would have beat Gordon to 100 innings with starts to spare had he not been shifted to the bullpen. He's been limited to two relief appearances per series with Winston-Salem, which is managing his workload, but doesn't reflect where his potential value lies.

*Seth Keener has allowed a .305/.363/.537 line with runners on, which explains why he's spent his entire season with a 6-something ERA despite peripherals that shouldn't be that bad.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

• Last two series: 1-5 @Columbia; 4-2 vs. Salem
• Record: 52-50 (19-17 in second half)
• Next two series: @Charleston, vs. Hickory
• Individual stats

Assuming you don't count the White Sox's bridge league team, he Kannapolis Cannon Ballers roster received the greatest infusion of talent after the draft. Cholowsky might be going to Winston-Salem, but the Ballers saw Clay Burdette, Braden Holcomb, Grayson Fitzwater and Crew McChesney make their professional debuts over the last week. It's just a shame the White Sox don't make their draft collegiate pitchers available for affiliate play in their debut seasons, but until or unless MLB returns the draft to an earlier date, teams will be loath to force pitchers to ramp back up after such a long layoff.

Position Players

*Billy Carlson is still with the White Sox after the deadline, which wasn't necessarily a given with the arrival of Cholowsky. He had a quiet two weeks, going 6-for-36 with a double and three walks. There's one month left in the season to notch his first homer.

*Jaden Fauske missed the first three games of the Salem series, but he produced around the absence, finishing the fortnight hitting .333/.429/.444. The strikeout rate continues to trend downward as well.

*Matthew Boughton has played in all 15 games after the break despite a slump that dates back to Independence Day. He's hitting .186/.329/.286 during this stretch, albeit with an acceptable strikeout rate, so he may as well keep playing through it.

*Alexander Albertus hit .270/.386/.442 over 23 games in July, including two of his three homers. He's still just 21, but he'll be Rule 5 eligible after the season, and I'm curious whether he'll get the Mogollón/McLain treatment just because there isn't all that much time, relatively speaking.

*Christian Gonzalez hasn't attempted a stolen base since his first and only successful attempt of the season back on July 5. He wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer, I guess.

*Braden Holcomb and Grayson Fitzwater have hit the ground running, and there's room in Winston-Salem should either of them continue making a mockery of Carolina League pitching.

Pitchers

*Blaine Wynk resumed throwing three scoreless innings, with a pair of such outings against Columbia and Salem. That makes it six of his last seven, and he's walked just two of the 114 batters he faced over the course of June and July.

*Truman Pauley is letting the season get away from him, as he allowed 20 runs over 20⅔ innings in July. There might be a reliever here, but it's not working as a starter.

ACL White Sox

• Record: 19-41
• Individual stats

The ACL White Sox season wrapped up on July 23, which is just as well when you look at the forecast for Glendale and see the week's lowest high is 108 degrees. I've been waiting until we see whether any players are promoted to Kannapolis before writing up a season review, but it should be a pretty brief one regardless.

Position Players

Yordani Soto and Landon Hodge closed out their ACL seasons with strong finshing kicks, while Alejandro Cruz and Jose Mendoza slumped at the end, and Jordan Rich and Eduardo Herrera didn't play at all.

Pitchers

It's the same story on the pitching side, where Blake Larson was shut down due to a lat strain after just three outings, and Cesar Familia didn't pitch over the final three weeks, either.

DSL White Sox

• Record: 16-27
• Individual stats

There's still one more full solid fortnight of DSL games remaining, and although the roster just lost its biggest on-base presence after Carlos Vielma was traded to the Rockies, the remaining prospects are making good use of the schedule, at least on the offensive side of things. Once again, it's the pitching that's lacking.

Position Players

Fernando Graterol was billed as a catcher, but has split time between first base and left field thus far. Felix Lebron has a four-game hitting streak that's allowing him to continue his climb toward the Mendoza Line, and Ronald Cardozo has steadily been approaching a 1.000 OPS.

Pitchers

Yordany Marté finally had an outing where he looked like the youngest pitcher on the staff, failing to get out of the first inning while giving up a couple runs on Saturday. Even then, he has plenty of ground to give in this particular race.

White Sox Minor Keys: Aug. 3, 2026

DSL Giants Orange 8, DSL White Sox 6 (8 innings)

• Farewell, Carlos Vielma: 0-for-2 before he was lifted.
• Fernando Graterol was 2-for-4 with a homer, double, walk and strikeout.
• Sebastian Romero went 0-for-3 with a walk.
• Ronald Cardozo double dtwice for his 2-for-4 line.
• Felix Lebron singled, walked twice and struck out once.
• Samuel Luis was 1-for-4 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
• Ronald Kelly: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K