White Sox Minor Keys: Aug. 12, 2026

More than two seasons after the White Sox traded for him, and after 24 appearances with the organization including nine in Chicago, Drew Thorpe made his Charlotte debut in Rochester on Aug. 13.

Thorpe took the direct route to the White Sox from Birmingham back in 2024, and fared decently until one elbow problem cut off that season at the end of July, and another one shelved him for all of 2025 and a lot of this season. In his fifth appearance of the season while ramping back up from Tommy John surgery, Thorpe finally donned the Charlotte teal.

In terms of results, it went swimmingly. Thorpe allowed just one run on three hits while striking out six without a walk, and his performance impressed even more considering the Red Wings scored 12 runs in the three innings after Thorpe called it a night.

In terms of his Statcast data, it's hard to say whether this performance is projectable. The good news is Thorpe's changeup indeed remains a marvel, as he threw it more than any other pitch and still generated eight whiffs on 17 swings.

However, the rest of his arsenal resembles the one that hit a wall against major league hitters because the bone chips in his elbow were dragging him down. His fastball averaged 90.8 mph, which is where it was in 2024, and neither his cutter nor his slider were factors, which was also an issue since both blended into each other.

It's just one game of data, and it's one game that generated a great line in a largely smooth return to pitching on a regular schedule. Should Thorpe keep breezing through five innings with the Knights, it's probably worth giving it a look in Chicago, just to see whether MLB-caliber bats will tell us anything that we can't glean from Baseball Savant.

Rochester 13, Charlotte 1

• Ryan Galanie led off, going 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Rikuu Nishida batted second, going 0-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base.
• Junior Pérez went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Drew Thorpe: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 WP, 52 of 76 pitches for strikes.

Columbus 4, Birmingham 3

• Caleb Bonemer came a double shy of the cycle while going 3-for-5. He also stole a base.
• Anthony DePino went 2-for-3 with a double and two walks.
• Ryan Burrowes, 1-for-3 with a walk, sac bunt and strikeouts.
• Colby Shelton struck out in a pinch-hitting appearance.
• James Taussig went 2-for-4 with a strikeouts.

Highlights:

*Bonemer's homer was his 19th at Birmingham, and his 30th of the season overall.

Winston-Salem 7, Greensboro 2

• Roch Cholowsky went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
• Javier Mogollón, 2-for-4 with a walk.
• George Wolkow was 2-for-5.
• Nick McLain was 0-for-4 with an HBP and three strikeouts.
• Kyle Lodise, 2-for-5 with a double, two strikeouts and a stolen base.
• Jeral Perez doubled, walked and struck out twice.
• Seth Keener: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 8 of 16 pitches for strikes.
• Max Banks: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 9 of 13 pitches for strikes.

Kannapolis 5, Hickory 4

• Jaden Fauske was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Matthew Boughton went 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen base.
• Alexander Albertus, 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.
• Truman Pauley: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 53 of 86 pitches for strikes.

DSL White Sox 10, DSL Pirates Black 9 (7 innings)

• Fernando Graterol went 4-for-5 with a homer.
• Sebastian Romero, 1-for-5 with a homer and two strikeouts.
• Felix Lebron singled and struck out thrice.
• Samuel Luis was 1-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
• Ronaldo Cardozo walked in a pinch-hit appearance and scored.