Sox Pop on the Farm Podcast 57 — A brighter second half for the Knights?
Jonathan Lee joins Brett Ballantini to discuss our key players of interest due shortly in Chicago ... including some in Birmingham!
One of these things truly is not like the other, as for the first season in ages the White Sox are fielding a competitive slate of affiliates, including two first-place and playoff-bound clubs. The exception, as you might have figured, is the Charlotte Knights, struggling to fill out a pitching rotation and to get some wins under them.
Our guy in Charlotte, Jonathan Lee, is here with us to talk about some key Knights figures ... look a bit into the future:
- The team is about what was expected, arguably (based on past seasons, at least) better than hoped
- Bryan Ramos skipped Charlotte on his way up to the majors, and now is rehabbing/reloading with the Knights. Jonathan and Brett chat on what Bryan brings to the table beyond his enormous talent
- Colson Montgomery is continuing to struggle between jaw-dropping flashes. He’s young, and struggle is to be expected — but Jonathan has caught something in Montgomery’s self-awareness that could prove valuable as he moves toward the majors
- Sean Burke’s lower-level rehab was completed and he’s flashed some “old Burke” since arriving in Charlotte
- Literally as the pair were discussing Birmingham’s rotation and what Drew Thorpe has to prove in Double-A, first word was breaking that Thorpe would be promoted to the White Sox for a Tuesday start
- Philosophical discussion on the nature of Triple-A and how often Double-A Barons might outright skip Charlotte, as we’re seeing with Ramos, Duke Ellis, and Thorpe
- The value of a core of guys playing together at each step up toward the majors
- Estimated dates for when we might start to see the rich Birmingham talent move east to Charlotte, possibly to create a very different Knights roster in the second half!
Follow Jonathan Lee on Twitter @followmefor3.
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