Minor League Baseball handed out a pair of honors to White Sox prospects before the affiliates’ lone game of the day, with Caleb Bonemer and Max Banks both landing on All-Star teams for the leagues they played in.
Bonemer, 20, collected another recognition after a strong start with Winston-Salem. He opened the season with the Dash and helped fuel their fast start, hitting .238/.381/.556 with a 139 wRC+ before moving up to Double-A, where he spent most of the year. That production earned him a spot on the South Atlantic League All-Star team at third base.
Banks, 23, also earned his place the hard way. He began the season with Kannapolis and turned in a 1.84 ERA with a 3.35 FIP across 58 2/3 innings.
His work helped keep the Cannon Ballers steady through a rough opening stretch and played a major part in their push back into relevance. That performance was enough to land him on the Carolina League All-Star team.
On the field, Charlotte couldn’t keep its road trip moving in Norfolk, falling 5-2 to the Tides and dropping the first two games of the series. The Knights are now 78-67.
Jonathan Cannon, 26, had been rolling in September after allowing just one run over 11 1/3 innings in his previous two starts, but Norfolk made him pay for mistakes in the zone. He gave up three home runs over five innings and finished with five runs allowed on eight hits, though two of those runs were unearned. He struck out five and walked none, but the damage came fast enough to put Charlotte in a hole it couldn’t dig out of.
The Knights’ offense came from one swing in the fifth, when Andy Weber, 29, launched his 15th homer of the season. Twelve of those have come with Charlotte, while the other three came for the Barons. Mario Camilletti had started the inning with a single, and Weber’s blast brought him home.
That was about the extent of the timely hitting. Charlotte went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and managed just one multi-hit effort, from Joey Wiemer, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. The bullpen did its part, with Tyler Schweitzer throwing two shutout innings and Tanner McDougal adding a scoreless frame, but the offense never matched it.
The Knights have had a solid year overall, but they are now mathematically out of the playoff race. Even so, the organization still has something to celebrate, with the Dash having won the South Atlantic Championship on Tuesday.
In Other News...
Chris Getz Hinted At A White Sox Draft Reset Fans Should Watch
The White Soxs scouting operation is in the spotlight again after amateur scouting director Mike Shirley resigned amid an internal investigation tied to allegations of verbal harassment involving inappropriate racial and sexist comments. Shirley had been placed on administrative leave in August after an anonymous tip, and his departure came after an HR investigation, leaving another significant change at a department that plays a major role in the clubs long-term rebuild.
General manager Chris Getz has already hinted that the scouting setup may not look the same going forward, though he has not gone into detail about Shirleys exit. For a team trying to reshape its pipeline and restore some stability, the next move in that department matters almost as much as the departure itself, because the White Sox are now left to decide how they want to structure the group responsible for finding the next wave of talent. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Prospects Headed To Arizona Could Shape Chicagos Next Wave
The White Sox have settled on the group headed to the Arizona Fall League, and it gives a useful snapshot of where some of the organizations next interesting names stand. Pitchers Nick Altermatt, Jonathan Clark, Pierce George, Mathias LaCombe and Garrett Wright will be joined by catcher Grant Magill, infielders Anthony DePino and Colby Shelton and outfielder Caleb Bonemer, a mix that reflects both depth and a few players pushing to separate themselves from the pack.
For Chicago, the Fall League is less about the standings than the stage. Relievers Pierce George and Mathias LaCombe, along with Bonemer in the outfield, are among the prospects worth tracking after recent minor league showings, and this next stretch will let them test themselves against other top young talent. It is the kind of assignment that can quietly shape how a farm system is viewed, especially for a club still building its next wave. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Get A Colson Montgomery Scare At The Worst Time
Colson Montgomery gave the White Sox a scare in the middle of a game against the Guardians when he was hit on the forearm by a pitch and later left with a left wrist contusion. The good news came quickly after the game, when Chicago announced that X-rays were negative and Montgomery was listed day-to-day, but anytime a young player exits with a wrist issue, it tends to hang over the clubhouse for a bit.
Montgomerys timing hardly could be worse for a White Sox team trying to keep its playoff hopes alive, especially with the infielder already having a tough season at the plate. Chicago has been trying to piece together offense wherever it can find it, and now it has to wait and see how much time Montgomery might miss before figuring out what his absence could mean in the days ahead. [Read more 🡒]