Sox Pop on the Farm Podcast 57 — A brighter second half for the Knights? — 2024-06-11

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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