White Sox Minor League Update: June 17, 2025

Brooks Baldwin and Caden Connor go boom as Knights, Barons, and ACL secure victories for the affiliates

Minor League News and Notes
Just a bit of housekeeping here before the wrap-ups. Righthanders James Karinchak and Keone Kela were both released by the Charlotte Knights on June 15. Additionally, after a very brief stint with the big league club, Chicago optioned infielder Brooks Baldwin back to the Queen City. Baldwin was tearing it up with the Knights prior to being called up to the Sox on June 13. Seems like it’s going to be a ping-pong kind of season for the 24-year-old. Finally, both Joshua Palacios and Bryse Wilson cleared waivers and are back with the Triple-A club.

The organization also has a couple of players with honors this past week. Southpaw Shane Murphy earned the Southern League Player of the Week for the Birmingham Barons. He went 1-0 over two scoreless starts while surrendering only four hits with 10 Ks over 13 innings.

And the big guy, outfielder George Wolkow, took home POTW for the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. After a slow start in April and May, the 19-year-old has been on fire in June, slashing .405/.490/.690 with four homers and 10 RBI.

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Charlotte Knights 6, Gwinnett Stripers 3 (Statcast box)
Small-but-mighty Brooks Baldwin led the Knights’ (34-36) offensive charge, crushing two solo bombs in the first and fifth innings.

Not content with just dingers, Baldwin also ripped a triple in the third, ultimately scoring on a sacrifice fly by Colson Montgomery. Monty further extended the Knights’ lead in the seventh when he laced a crucial two-run triple, plating Dominic Fletcher and Baldwin, who walked.

Despite giving up a few runs early, the Charlotte pitching staff held the Stripers in check. Yoendrys Gómez navigated three innings, allowing just one run. From there, five relievers tag-teamed to surrender only two hits and two runs over the subsequent five frames. Justin Anderson closed it out in the ninth, earning the save despite giving up two late hits.

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Birmingham Barons 4, Columbus Clingstones 1
Birmingham (33-30) notched the win, ignited by a three-run fourth inning and solid pitching. After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the fourth, the Barons quickly responded in the bottom half. Jacob Gonzalez kicked off the rally with a double, setting the stage for Caden Connor, who then blasted a two-run four-bagger to give Birmingham the lead.

DJ Gladney followed up with a triple and later scored on a wild pitch, extending the Barons’ advantage to 3-1. In the eighth, Connor delivered again with an RBI single, driving in Ryan Galanie to put the Barons ahead for good, 4-1.

On the mound, the Barons’ pitching staff stitched together a strong performance. Starter Tommy Vail limited the opposing offense effectively for 5 2⁄3 innings, allowing only one run on four hits before giving way to the bullpen. Jared Kelly, Tyler Davis, and Zach Franklin combined to shut down the visitors in the later innings, with Franklin ultimately closing out the game in the ninth to seal the Barons’ 4-1 win.

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Rome Emperors 9, Winston-Salem Dash 4
The Winston-Salem Dash (24-40) hurlers struggled from the outset, and the offense mounted a late but insufficient rally. Starting pitcher Dylan Cumming recorded only two outs while surrendering three runs on three hits before being replaced by Morris Austin, who faired a bit better but still gave up two tallies in 1 1/3 frames. Manuel Veloz, Vince Vannelle, and Jake Peppers entered the fray, but the damage continued, extending the Rome lead to a commanding 9-0 by the eighth.

The Emperors largely silenced the Dash bats, that was, until the bottom of the eighth. They finally broke through against Samuel Strickland. Jordan Sprinkle got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in the first run, followed by Sam Antonacci’s clutch two-run base hit and Jeral Perez’s RBI single, trimming the deficit to five. However, the rally stalled there, and the Dash offense could not overcome the early struggles of their pitching staff.

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Charleston RiverDogs 14, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 8
Starting pitcher Seth Keener faced an early uphill battle, surrendering two solo home runs in the first inning and giving up four additional runs through the fourth. The Cannon Ballers’ (32-32) offense, however, came to life in the bottom of the fifth, erupting for seven runs, giving them a temporary advantage. The rally was highlighted by a bases-loaded walk to George Wolkow, an RBI single from Ryan Burrowes, and a two-run single by Mikey Kane that tied the game. Miguel Santos then delivered a two-run triple, giving Kannapolis an 8-6 lead.

Unfortunately for the Ballers, their bullpen struggled to maintain the lead. After Blake Shepardson took over for Keener in the fifth, he and subsequent relievers Joseph Yabbour and Kevin Davis gave up a steady stream of runs, including several on a total of eight wild pitches. Kannys’ bats went quiet after their big fifth inning, managing only two hits in the remaining frames and ultimately succumbing to the 14-8 loss.

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ACL Guardians 4, ACL White Sox 3 (Monday, 10 innings)
Marcelo Ácala got the ACL Sox on the board early with his fifth homer of the season in the first frame. They extended their lead in the second thanks to a double from Grant Smith and a duo of errors by the Guardians, which plated two runners. Unfortunately, the Guardians added a tally in both the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game 3-3. Jurdrick Profar got himself in scoring position after a leadoff walk and two wild pitches in the bottom of the ninth, but his teammates couldn’t drive him home. The Complex Sox ultimately came up short as the Guardians scored the ghost runner on a ground out and a sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th. The Sox definitely didn’t help themselves in this one either, as they struck out 15 times.

Sox starter Denny Lima impressed, tossing five frames of one-hit, one-run ball. Righty Marco Barrios earned the blown save by surrendering two runs on two hits with a walk and a strikeout over his two innings. Gray Thomas took the loss for allowing the Manfred runner to come home in extras.

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ACL White Sox 5, ACL Mariners 2 (Tuesday, 10 innings)
This one was a tight affair through the first nine innings. The White Sox opened the scoring in the second when Adrian Gil, who had walked, came home on a D’Angelo Tejada single, giving them an early 1-0 lead. It stayed that way until the Marines gained a 2-1 advantage in the sixth.

The ACL Sox tied things up in the top of the ninth when Adrian Gil reached on an error and scored on an Angelo Hernández double. With the score tied, the teams went on to bonus baseball! The Sox exploded for three runs in the top of the tenth. Albertson Asigen tripled to drive in the ghost runner, Stiven Flores singled Asigen home, and Flores himself scored on a sacrifice fly from Adrian Gil, extending their lead to 5-2.

On the mound, starter Mathias LaCombe was excellent, throwing three scoreless innings and allowing just one hit. He was followed by a strong bullpen performance, with Jommy Hernandez, Jesús Méndez, Reudis Diaz, and Jake Curtis combining to shut the Mariners’ offense down. Garrett Wright was the only reliever to surrender any runs, allowing the only two tallies the Mariners scored.

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