Baseball America’s Dominican Summer League rankings gave the White Sox a near miss. If not for the Brenton Doyle trade, Chicago would have landed two prospects in the top 35.
As it stands, right-hander Yordany Marte checked in at No. 25, while Carlos Vielma, now in the Rockies’ system, landed at No. 33.
Marte was the White Sox’s top pitching prospect in the DSL, and his showing in the all-star game only added to the buzz. Scouts saw a young righty with a three-pitch mix that already flashes real quality, plus a knack for moving the ball around.
The question is how much room his body still has to fill out. Even so, evaluators believe he has the ingredients to become a savvy starter, with all three pitches projecting as average or better.
If it all comes together, he profiles toward the back of a rotation.
Vielma’s path changed at the trade deadline, when he went from the White Sox to the Rockies in the deal that brought outfielder Brenton Doyle to Chicago. The infielder’s appeal is tied to his bat, which is expected to play as above-average in the majors.
The rest of the profile is more limited: middling power and below-average defense at both infield spots. What he does do well is control the strike zone and make contact, and that will need to keep holding as he climbs.
At Gwinnett, Charlotte fell 5-3. Rikuu Nishida finished 1-for-4 with two strikeouts, and Ryan Galanie went 1-for-4 with a double.
Shane Murphy worked 5.1 innings, allowing five hits and two runs, both earned, while walking one and striking out three. He also hit a batter and threw one wild pitch, with 52 of his 75 pitches going for strikes.
Huascar Brazobán followed with 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two. Shane Smith had a rough 0.2-inning outing, giving up two hits and three runs, all earned, with three walks, no strikeouts, and two wild pitches.
Birmingham split its doubleheader with Biloxi. In Game 1, a 2-1 win in seven innings, Caleb Bonemer went 1-for-3 with a homer and a walk, Anthony DePino was 1-for-3 with a double and a strikeout, and Ryan Burrowes went 0-for-1 with a walk and an HBP.
Colby Shelton drew a walk as a pinch-hitter. On the mound, Lucas Gordon threw 2 scoreless innings without allowing a hit, though he walked three and struck out two; 39 of his 48 pitches came in the second.
Pierce George added a clean inning, giving up one hit and striking out two.
Bonemer’s homer was his 36th of the season, and MLB Pipeline noted that the White Sox’s No. 30 prospect was tied for third in the minors after the blast. The same note also said he was slugging .600 with 18 extra-base hits since Aug. 1 for Double-A Birmingham.
Biloxi answered in Game 2, taking it 8-5 in seven innings. Bonemer went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, while Shelton homered, walked and struck out.
Ryan Burrowes finished 0-for-3, and Samuel Zavala drew two walks and struck out once. Juan Carela was tagged for seven runs, all earned, on four hits in just one-third of an inning, with three walks, no strikeouts and two home runs allowed.
Rome’s 13-6 win over Winston-Salem featured a busy night at the plate for several White Sox hitters. Kyle Lodise went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
Jeral Perez was 2-for-4 with a double, walk and strikeout. James Taussig doubled three times in a 3-for-5 performance.
Braden Holcomb made his High-A debut and went 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts. Nick McLain finished 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
On the pitching side, Max Banks allowed four hits and two earned runs in 2 innings, with three walks and three strikeouts. Christian Oppor was charged with three earned runs in one-third of an inning, giving up one hit, three walks, one strikeout, one wild pitch and one hit by pitch.
In Delmarva’s 8-5 win over Kannapolis, Jaden Fauske reached base four times, going 1-for-2 with three walks, and also went 1-for-2 on the basepaths. Abraham Nunez went 1-for-4.
Alexander Albertus was 1-for-3 with a walk and a sacrifice fly. Landon Hodge singled and struck out twice, and Christian Gonzalez went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
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White Sox Prospects Are Giving This Farm System Some Real Momentum
A little momentum in the White Sox farm system has been hard to miss lately, and a few of the organizations younger arms helped keep it rolling. David Sandlin, Grant Umberger and Fabian Ysalla combined to allow four earned runs over 16.1 innings while striking out 20 in recent minor league games, a stretch that gave the system a much-needed jolt across multiple levels.
Sandlin was sharp for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, striking out 11 in a win, while Umberger delivered six innings with five strikeouts in a playoff-clinching victory for the High-A Winston-Salem Dash. Even the Single-A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers found a way to add to the mood, winning a close one with six stolen bases, while the Double-A Birmingham Barons had their game washed out by rain. [Read more 🡒]