White Sox Minor Keys: Sept. 1, 2026

The White Sox designated Tyler Gilbert for assignment in order to open up a spot on the 40-man roster for Tommy Pham, which reminded me to look into how Aaron Combs is faring.

The White Sox traded Combs, their eighth-round pick in 2024, to Philadelphia for Gilbert on Jan. 1, 2025. It was their second lefty reliever acquisition in 11 days, as they'd previously picked up Cam Booser from the Red Sox for Yhoiker Fajardo.

Fajardo is putting the finishing touches on an outstanding 2026 season, as he has a 3.69 ERA with 127 strikeouts against 33 walks over 97 ⅔ innings while finishing his age-19 season in Double-A. Combs, on the other hand, is a 24-year-old in Double-A with a 5.03 ERA over 34 innings, so it appears that both sides received negligible contributions in this one.

Charlotte 3, Gwinnett 1 (10 innings)

• Rikuu Nishida went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Kyle Teel made his 1-for-5 performance count by hitting a game-tying homer in the ninth inning.
• Ryan Galanie was 1-for-4, and caught stealing.
• Edgar Quero went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Noah Schultz: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 44 of 70 pitches for strikes.
• Chris Murphy: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 8 of 11 pitches for strikes.
• Shane Smith: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 11 of 18 pitches for strikes.

Biloxi 8, Birmingham 7

• Caleb Bonemer went 0-for-3 with two walks and two strikeouts.
• Anthony DePino was 2-for-5 with a homer and a strikeout.
• Colby Shelton had the same line, except with two homers.
• Ryan Burrowes was 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
• Samuel Zavala walked two more times during an 0-for-2 night.

Notes and highlights:

*Shelton's first homer was one of those tank shots.

*Rocket City won, so the Barons are two games back, which is effectively three games since the Trash Pandas hold the tiebreaker.

Winston-Salem 6, Rome 3

• Javier Mogollón went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• Kyle Lodise hit his 20th homer and fourth triple during a 2-for-4 night.
• George Wolkow is up to 97 RBIs after going 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
• Jeral Perez, 0-for-4.
• James Taussig and Nick McLain both were 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• Blaine Wynk's High-A debut: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 22 of 36 pitches for strikes.

Notes:

*The Dash moved back into a tie for first with Bowling Green, but more importantly, they remain 1½ games ahead of Greenville, which is effectively 2½ because they hold the tiebreaker.

Kannapolis 6, Delmarva 2

• Jaden Fauske went 0-for-3 with two walks.
• Matthew Boughton was 2-for-5 with his 30th stolen base and a strikeout.
• Abraham Nunez, 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and one pickoff/caught stealing.
• Alexander Albertus, 2-for-4.