Trending on the Farm: Montgomery & Mena propel the Barons past Rocket City

Colson Montgomery

Colson Montgomery continues to demonstrate why he’s the top prospect in the White Sox system, as well as a top prospect in all of baseball. When Montgomery isn’t knocking hits around the park, he’s utilizing his fantastic knowledge of the zone to reach base, as evidenced by his .438 OBP in 19 AA games on top of the .537 clip he rode in High A.

Cristian Mena

Cristian Mena has been on another level for the month of August. In four August starts, Mena has throw 24 ⅔ innings with a 2.55 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, a 1.10 GO/AO, and a .233 BAA. There’s rumors that the 20 year old righty is being promoted to Charlotte to end his campaign.

José Rodríguez

José Rodríguez rebounded at the plate last week while also displaying great range at the keystone. Rodríguez also went 2-for-2 on stolen bases, bringing his season total to 27 of 33, or roughly an 82% success rate.

PEYTON PALLETTE

Peyton Pallette had a rough inning of work before a weather delay cut his start short. The silver lining was Pallette striking out the side.

Norge Vera & Bryan Ramos

The good news for Norge Vera? He pitched in Winston-Salem for the first time since April.

It was an uncharacteristically down week for Ramos, but is still posting an .847 OPS for the month of August after last week’s struggles.

JONATHAN CANNON

While Jonathan Cannon’s start may have been short due to an elevated pitch count, his strong August rolled on. Now across four starts, Cannon has pitched 18 ⅔ innings with a 1.93 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP, a 1.53 GO/AO, and a .211 BAA.

Matthew Thompson

Matthew Thompson had a strong start against Rocket City, although walks have continued to be an issue for the 23 year old. The righty only has one month (June) where he issued single digit (nine) walks across five starts.

Xavier Fernández & Tyler Neslony

Xavier Fernández continues to rake in Charlotte. In six games, the 28 year old slashed .500/.560/1.091 for a 1.651 OPS, had seven extra base hits (four doubles, three home runs), and seven RBI.

No Charlotte Knight was on base more than Tyler Neslony was last week. The 29 year old appeared in six games and got on base at a .565 clip, due in large part to drawing eight walks (to one strikeout). Additionally, Neslony had a 1.498 OPS with three home runs, eight RBI, and a stolen base.

Nate Mondou & Declan Cronin

Nate Mondou was another Knight to swing a hot bat, ending the week with 1.100 OPS, two extra base hits (double, home run), three RBI, and a stolen base.

Declan Cronin pitched well in both of his appearances last week. Cronin threw three and a third scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, struck out one.

Tim Elko

Tim Elko has mashed baseball all year long, and last week against Rocket City was no different. The 24 year old slashed .385/.407/.654 for a 1.061 OPS, three extra base hits (double, two home runs) and drove in six.

WILFRED VERAS

20 year old Wilfred Veras continues to be a doubles machine. Veras smacked four more doubles last week (which now gives him 37 for the season between Winston-Salem and Birmingham), sporting a 1.008 OPS, drove in eight, and was also 1-for-1 on stolen bases.

Nick Nastrini

Nick Nastrini pitched well in his latest start, throwing five innings, allowing four hits, one run (earned), walked two, and struck out seven. Nastrini is also reportedly set to join the Charlotte Knights to end his season.

Michael Turner & Colby Smelley

The Dash catcher trio led the charge offensively last week. Michael Turner was once again a walk machine, drawing five to just three strikeouts, ending the week with a 1.029 OPS, two doubles, and six RBI.

23 year old Colby Smelley homered, drove in three, and had two walks (no strikeouts) in two games.

Troy Claunch & Jordan Mikel

24 year old Troy Claunch launched a double, two home runs, knocked in four, and ended the week with a 2.171 OPS in three games.

24 year old Jordan Mikel pitched well in his lone relief appearance last week. Mikel threw two and two thirds innings, walked one, and struck out six.

Mason Adams

23 year old right hander Mason Adams was brilliant against the Bowling Green Hot Rods. In three starts with the Dash, Adams has pitched 18 innings to the tune of a 2.50 ERA, a 0.83 WHIP, a 2.20 GO/AO, and a .197 BAA. Adams is also reportedly being promoted to Birmingham after a brief stay in Winston-Salem.

Jordan Sprinkle

Since he returned to Kannapolis post-injury (August 9), Jordan Sprinkle has been swinging the bat well, especially last week. The 22 year old slashed .364/.462/.682 for a 1.144 OPS, four extra base hits (two doubles, triple, home run) eight RBI, and went 3-for-3 on stolen bases.

Drake Logan

22 year old Drake Logan had a nice week, ending the series against Myrtle Beach with a 1.045 OPS, one home run, four RBI, and went 1-for-1 on stolen bases.

Connery Peters & Aldrin Batista

23 year old Connery Peters pitched well in both of his relief appearances last week. Peters threw three scoreless innings, allowed just one hit, and struck out four.

20 year old right hander Aldrin Batista had another strong start for the Ballers. Batista had five innings of work, allowed two hits, one run (earned), walked two, and struck out three.

Ronny Hernandez

18 year old catcher Ronny Hernandez ended his DSL season strong, collecting four hits in six at-bats in the teams last two games of the season. One of the hits was a home run, as Hernandez also drove in four. Playing at nearly two years younger than average in the ACL, Hernandez had a very strong .338/.430/.493 slash line with a .923 OPS in 45 games (172 PA) for the ACL White Sox. Hernandez was promoted to Kannapolis on August 23, but has yet to appear in a game.

Gabriel Rodríguez

19 year old right hander Gabriel Rodríguez ended his season on a strong note. In his final start, Rodríguez threw three scoreless innings, allowed two hits, one walk, and struck out five. In 47 ⅔ innings Rodríguez struck out 61 batters and had a 3.78 ERA.

Javier Mogollon

It wouldn’t be a DSL White Sox update without Javier Mogollon making one final appearance. The DSL White Sox season concluded last Monday, but that didn’t stop Mogollon from homering in their last game. For the season, Mogollon slashed .315/.417/.582 with a .999 OPS, 22 extra base hits (10 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs) in 47 games (199 PA) for the DSL White Sox.

Adrian Gil

17 year old Adrian Gil also homered in the last game of the season for the DSL White Sox, capping off a very solid professional debut season. Gil hit .340/.481/.517 for a .998 OPS, 16 extra base hits (11 doubles, five home runs) in 45 games (190 PA) with the DSL White Sox.

Luis Rodriguez

19 year old right hander Luis Rodriguez threw the ball well in his final outing of the season. Rodriguez threw three scoreless innings, allowed two hits and struck out two batters.