Trending on the Farm: Oscar Colás returns to Charlotte

By / / Minors, Trending on the Farm

This series will highlight player trends from the top prospects in the White Sox system as well as any other notable performances across all affiliates.

Top of the Crop

NOTE: This piece will focus on players in the minor leagues, so Lenyn Sosa is omitted as he’s currently with the White Sox.

RankPlayer (Position) [Level]Last Week (5/2 – 5/7)Trend
1Colson Montgomery (SS) [A+]7-day IL🩹
2Oscar Colás (OF) [AAA].435/.519/.652, 1.171 OPS, 7R, 5 2B, 6 RBI⬆️
3​Bryan Ramos (3B/2B) [AA]7-day IL🩹
4Noah Schultz (LHP) [Ext. Spring]N/AN/A
6José Rodriguez (2B/SS) [AA].227/.261/.500, .761 OPS, 2R, 2 HR, 3 RBI↖️
7Cristian Mena (RHP) [AA] 6 IP, 3 H, 2R (2 ER), 0 BB, 11 K⬆️
8Peyton Pallette (RHP) [A]0.2 IP, 0 H, 3R (3 ER), 3 BB, 1 K↙️
9Sean Burke (RHP) [AAA]3.1 IP, 4 H, 3R (3 ER), 3 BB, 3 K⬇️
10Norge Vera (RHP) [A+]7-day IL🩹
11Jonathan Cannon (RHP) [A+]7 IP, 3 H, 0R, BB, 6 K⬆️
Colson Montgomery & Bryan Ramos

Following up on James Fegan’s tweet from last week, apparently “close to being activated” means longer than a week in White Sox terms for Ramos to make his 2023 full season debut. There doesn’t appear to be a defined timeline for Montgomery at this point.

Oscar Colás

Oscar Colás was sent down after initially struggling in his first taste of major league action, but saw the ball quite well. Colás roped five doubles out of his 10 total hits in five games played against Gwinnett.

Jonathan Cannon

Jonathan Cannon turned in a superb outing against Greensboro. The righty only allowed four baserunners in seven innings on an efficient 73 pitches.

Cristian Mena

Cristian Mena just keeps on striking batters out. While his outing against the Lookouts started rough (two out of the first three batters homered), the 20 year old settled in and dominated from there on out. His 11 strikeouts are a season high and it’s his second start of the year where he didn’t allow a walk (has only allowed six in 25 innings pitched).

Peyton Pallette & Sean Burke

Peyton Pallette just didn’t have it last week, not making it out of the first inning and allowing three earned runs off three walks and a hit batter.

Sean Burke also took a trip on the struggle bus, as his rough start to the season in Charlotte continues. Burke is walking too many and allowing too many hits, as evidenced by his 1.89 WHIP across his first nine innings pitched.

José Rodriguez

After being activated off the injured list, flashes of the old Popeye poked through last week. While he’s still striking out more than usual (currently a 25 K%, was at 13.6% last season in AA), Rodriguez did pop two home runs last week in what’s hopefully a sign of positive results to come.

Best of the Rest

Clint Frazier & Yoán Moncada

Clint Frazier packed his boom stick last week, knocking three home runs and a double for a 1.980 OPS in 12 ABs. Frazier also walked six times (didn’t strike out).

Yoán Moncada was out on a rehab assignment and saw the ball well, homering once to pair with a 1.525 OPS in three games (nine ABs).

Carlos Perez & Victor Reyes

Before getting called up by the White Sox, Carlos Perez was one of several Knights swinging a hot bat last week. Perez batted .353/.368/.765 for a 1.133 OPS with one double, two home runs, and eight RBI.

Not to be outdone, Victor Reyes tried his best to keep pace with Perez by batting .333/.364/.714 for a 1.078 OPS, two doubles, two home runs, and 10 RBI.

Xavier Fernandez & Chris Shaw

Xavier Fernandez had three doubles and nine total hits in 13 ABs last week, resulting in a 1.611 OPS in four games.

Chris Shaw also played in four games, but knocked three home runs with five RBI en route to a 1.304 OPS in 14 ABs.

Yoelquis Céspedes

Yoelquis Céspedes had a good showing in terms of power output last week, hitting one double, triple, and two home runs for a 1.083 OPS. Things weren’t so rosy with his 12 strikeouts to one walk, which has been the story of his minor league career thus far.

Michael Turner

Michael Turner was stellar for the Dash last week. The 24 year old catcher batted .467/.636/.867 for a 1.503 OPS, scoring six runs, smashing three doubles and one home run, three RBI, and seven walks to two strikeouts.

Wilfred Veras

Although he may not have homered, Wilfred Veras still displayed what makes him an intriguing prospect. Veras batted .423/.444/.577 for a 1.021 OPS, scoring five runs, knocking four doubles and seven RBI.

Taishi Nakawake & Terrell Tatum

Taishi Nakawake had a very nice week for the Dash, batting .286/.474/.429 for a .903 OPS with two doubles and three RBI in 14 ABs.

Terrell Tatum keeps his productive season going, ending the week with a .900 OPS in 20 ABs, six runs scored, and going 4-for-4 in stolen bases.

Andrew Dalquist

Andrew Dalquist put together a soild week en route to being named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week. Across two starts, Dalquist threw seven total innings, didn’t allow any hits or runs, walked four, and struck out six.

Bryce Willits & Brooks Baldwin

2022 18th round pick Bryce Willits led the way for the Ballers offense last week. Willits batted .474/.476/.895 for a 1.371 OPS, scoring three runs, hitting two doubles, two home runs, and four RBI in 19 ABs.

2022 12th rounder Brooks Baldwin wasn’t too far behind Willits, as he batted .375/.423/.792 for a 1.215 OPS, scoring five runs, hitting two doubles, one triple, two home runs, eight RBI, and went 2-for-2 in stolen bases in 24 ABs.

Johnabiell Laureano & Shane Murphy

22 year old Johnabiell Laureano had a nice week, scoring four runs, knocking three doubles and two RBI en route to a 1.150 OPS in five games (15 ABs).

Once again, 2022 14th round pick Shane Murphy had another strong start for the Cannon Ballers. The southpaw threw five innings allowing three hits, no runs, one walk, and struck out seven GreenJackets.

Mason Adams & Connor McCullough

Mason Adams stymied the Augusta lineup in his relief appearance last week. Adams threw four innings allowing no runs, one hit, two walks, while striking out nine.

Connor McCullough had a great start by throwing six innings of one hit baseball, allowing no runs or walks while striking out seven.

18 thoughts on “Trending on the Farm: Oscar Colás returns to Charlotte”

  1. As Cirensica

    Of course Oscar Colas goes to AAA and destroys the ball. Another one like Lennyn Sosa. They destroy AAA pitching but when they get to the Majors, their bats immediately disappear. This is very weird. I think it is a mental thing. I know Major League pitching is different then AAA, but the way Sosa and Colas look like they belong to single A when facing Major League pitchers is hard to reconcile. Look at Haseley, his difference between AAA and the Majors is not as pronounced as with Sosa and Colas.

    1. upnorthsox

      It’s all against Gwinnett which is one of the worst teams in the IL. Let’s see how he does against better competition.

    2. MattVerplaetse

      Sosa has looked totally lost, but anecdotally, I didn’t feel as hopeless about Colas. He did look overmatched at times, but don’t most rookies? If he keeps hitting well in AAA, I wouldn’t hesitate to bring him back up in a week or two, especially given our dearth of right field options. (I’ll never buy Gavin Sheets as an outfielder.)

      Those of us that were not thrilled about having a rookie as the only right field option in a year where they were theoretically trying to compete may have already been proven right, however.

    3. chambers.kevin

      It takes time to adjust to the highest level of competition. Be patient.

    4. Augusto Barojas

      It’s not that unusual. Look at Kelenic. His 2021/22 in 140 games were other worldly awful. But they stuck with him, and now he’s posting a near .900 OPS and looks like a stud. Vaughn and Cease went through growing pains, lots of players do.

      Haseley hit .230 at AAA since 2019. There is almost no way he is any kind of answer in RF. I hope Colas is back up by June 1 unless he sucks at AAA. He wasn’t nearly as bad as Sosa. He’s almost 25, not a super young guy, and should play every day on the Sox even if he sucks now, my opinion. Makes no difference to the fate of this team for 2023, anybody they put in RF is going to be terrible in the meantime anyway. Colas is the only guy in their whole org that could be an answer for RF in 24/25. Best case maybe he starts to show promise in the 2nd half. I’d like to see him get at least 300 at bats, including against lefties. Benching him in favor of Romy was bleeping inexcusable, just stupid and pointless.

      1. upnorthsox

        Mark Payton only got 61 career ABs even though he had 30 HR and a 1.053 OPS in 2019 and 25 HR and a .908 OPS last year. There are literally thousands of players who have ended up with less than 100 career ABs. When you get to the big stage you better be prepared to play your ass off because there’s no guarantee you will be given a string of failed chances to prove yourself. The Adam Engel situation is the exception not the norm.

        1. Augusto Barojas

          If they give up on Colas after 76 at bats in favor of anybody else in their infinite arsenal of inadequate/garbage players, they are dumber than you know what. He is their ONLY hope for RF beyond 2023.

          It hardly matters, I wonder why any of us are wasting our breath or attention on a team that might be a really good bet to lose 270-300 games the next 3 seasons.

          1. upnorthsox

            I was speaking more about Sosa but yea I think its safe to say that they are aware that they rushed Colas because they failed to provision RF adequately and will give additional chances to prove his worth. That said, he’s also older for a 2nd year pro so that leash wont be that long.

        2. bobsquad

          Big bats will continue to get chances. Nelson Cruz entered his 5th MLB season at age 28 with 22 career HRs.

      2. Trooper Galactus

        Vaughn has yet to provide positive WAR a month into his third season. If he isn’t still growing then they’re in even bigger trouble than they thought.

    5. Qubort

      We all remember the old rule, If you don’t crush by your 80th career at bat, you never will.

      1. Augusto Barojas

        This is true! Considering the Sox outfield depth is the envy of all teams with the treasure trove of Reyes, Marisnick, Piscotty, Haseley, Hamilton, and Frazier, you wonder why Colas was given any consideration in the first place.

    1. a-t

      He’s striking out 30% of the time but HR and BABIPing thru it at Kanny. Does not look like he’s got a future.

      1. Wayne

        I don’t expect him to be anything that moves up the system. But he has improved his K% and BB% this year. K% still not good, as you pointed out.

    2. Sleepy Harold

      To me, he’s crushing a level that he should be crushing given his age/experience in college ball vs the avg age of that level (Elko is 2+ years older on avg than most pitchers in the Carolina League). I don’t put a whole lot of stock into the numbers given that, but it’s obviously better that he’s hitting well over hitting poorly. I’d really like to see him get a promotion to Winston sooner rather than later where he’s closer (but still about a year older) to the avg age of the pitchers in the SAL to better asses.

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