2025 MLB Farm Review: Chicago White Sox

The Cannon Ballers saw many of the White Sox’s 2025 draft picks, including Anthony DePino and Colby Shelton, appear late in the year. However, the individuals who were of major focus for Kannapolis this year were George Wolkow and Caleb Bonemer, both of whom are very notable prospects within the system.

Wolkow, who was given a $1MM signing bonus as a seventh-round pick in 2023, hit 13 home runs and 31 extra-base hits across 116 games. Additionally, he stole 33 bases, second-most on the team behind former fourth-rounder Jordan Sprinkle.

For the 20-year-old Illinois native, those were the good numbers. As for the bad, Wolkow whiffed nearly 36% of the time (35.6% Whiff%), which was among the 30 worst swing-and-miss rates in the Carolina League. His teammate, 2024 12th-rounder Nathan Archer (36.2% Whiff%), also ranked poorly in that category.

Bonemer (22.9% Whiff%), meanwhile, fared better in the contact category. It was a strong overall for Bonemer, who received nearly $3MM as a second-round pick in 2024. The 20-year-old posted a .858 OPS as a teenager, thanks to 68 walks and 39 extra-base hits across 96 contests.

As for the rest of the pack, Braden Montgomery, one of four prospects acquired in the Garrett Crochet trade last December, made his pro debut in April with the Cannon Ballers. Montgomery slashed .304/.393/.493 with three home runs and seven extra-base hits across 18 games. He got his feet wet before moving up later in the spring.

Moving on to the pitchers, the Cannon Ballers had two of the best swing-and-miss pitchers in the circuit between Liam Paddack and Grant Umberger.

Umberger, a 24-year-old from Toledo, struck out 113 over 102 innings and posted a 32.1% Whiff%, which ranked in the top-40 of the Carolina League. Paddack, a 2024 MLB Draft pick from Gonzaga, ranked in the top five of the league in swing-and-miss rate. However, he also walked 37 over 44 innings.

Winston-Salem Dash

The Winston-Salem Dash’s offense had a fair amount of talent on the roster, highlighted by Braden Montgomery, who played more games in High-A than any other level this season.

Montgomery posted a slash line of .260/.348/.445 (.793 OPS) with eight home runs and 28 extra-base hits across 69 games. Additionally, Montgomery took his walks, with a BB% of 11.0%. Those numbers, on paper, were good.

However, his Whiff% hovered right around the 33% marker. Now at the High-A level, there were a lot of players who showed a lot of swing-and-miss this season — and notable ones, at that. Just something to watch heading into 2026 (and we’ll get more into Montgomery’s Double-A numbers in the next section).

Another prospect who had a fine year in High-A was 21-year-old Jeral Perez, who played all of 2025 as a 20-year-old. Perez showed consistent ability to make contact and power, as well. Perez hit 22 home runs, not only a team-high for the Dash but also the most in the South Atlantic League.

Samuel Zavala, one of the prospects acquired in the Dylan Cease deal two years ago, posted a .732 OPS with the Dash in 2025. That total was nearly 100 points more than what he did in 2024 (.641 OPS) with the Winston-Salem Dash.

The other notable that needs to be discussed is 22-year-old infielder Sam Antonacci, a fifth-round pick by Chicago in 2024. Antonacci had a very good 2025, one that started in High-A for him. He’s not a power hitter by any means but showed a lot of positive signs. With the Dash, he walked 39 times over 64 games and posted the second-lowest Whiff% (11.4%) in the circuit among hitters.

Some other notes from Winston-Salem:

• Caleb Bonemer hit .278/.409/.611 with seven extra-base hits across 11 contests. Bonemer received a call-up to High-A in late August.
• Kyle Lodise, the White Sox’s third-round pick out of Georgia Tech, played 28 games with the Dash in 2025. Lodise posted a 32.8% Whiff% over 28 games and an overall slash line of .185/.319/.370.

As for the pitching staff, reliever Carson Jacobs, an undrafted free agent from North Dakota State, struck out 80 over 54.2 IIP and had the highest Whiff% (45.2%) in the South Atlantic League.

Tanner McDougal (30.3% Whiff%), a former fifth-round pick from 2021, struck out 73 over 57.2 IP and raised his profile as a prospect. McDougal was added to the White Sox’s 40-man roster in November 2025.

Birmingham Barons

Amidst what was a rough 2024 season, the White Sox were able to further the rebuild that July when Hagen Smith, a dominant left-hander from the University of Arkansas, was taken in the first round.

It was a strange first full pro season for Smith. The left-hander missed nearly two months of the year, had several walk-plagued outings, and only tossed 75.2 IP with the Barons. Still, the numbers weren’t bad in retrospect. Smith struck out 108 and posted one of the highest Whiff% (36%) in the Southern League.

Smith is a heavy fastball/slider pitcher, and that rang true in the AFL. In this day and age, having four to five pitches as a starter is advantageous. Whether Smith can expand that arsenal or improve on his three-pitch mix will be a central focus moving forward.

Aside from Smith, it was a very good year for Riley Gowens. A 26-year-old taken in the 2023 MLB Draft, Gowens struck out 151 over 132 innings and posted a Whiff% just a tick below 30%. Additionally, Shane Murphy and Jake Palisch, the latter of whom made his MLB debut in 2025, posted sub-2.20 ERA figures.

Neither Murphy nor Palisch are “big” throwers. Murphy is a junk pitcher who has a high-80s to low-90s four-seamer and sinker, coupled with a cutter, changeup, and slider. Palisch touched a tick harder than Murphy. However, the two ranked among the top 50% of the league in GB% and limited the home-run ball.

As for the rest of the pitching staff, Tanner McDougal (27.4% Whiff%) and Noah Schultz (27% Whiff%) both averaged over a strikeout per inning.

Moving to the offense, Braden Montgomery saw an increase in swing-and-miss (36% Whiff%) in the Southern League. Still, despite 41 strikeouts in 34 games, it didn’t stop him from making an impact. Montgomery picked up 15 extra-base hits for the Barons.

Jacob Gonzalez, the White Sox’s first-round pick in 2023, put up unspectacular numbers in Double-A. Gonzalez slashed .244/.305/.369 with 27 extra-base hits over 89 contests.

William Bergolla notched a team-high 139 hits and had the lowest Whiff% (7.0%) among Southern League hitters.

Sam Antonacci followed up a good run in Winston-Salem with an even better one in Birmingham. Antonnaci walked 28 times and struck out 32 times over 49 contests, along with 21 stolen bases and 49 total hits.

Charlotte Knights

What an interesting year it was for Colson Montgomery.

Montgomery hit 21 home runs for the White Sox and nearly led the club in that category despite not being with the team until early July. However, things went south for him in April. So bad that Montgomery was temporarily demoted to the ACL to find his stroke.

He turned it on once he returned. Even though his cumulative slash line wasn’t impressive (.218/.298/.435), it was a significant improvement from the .478 OPS he sported before the demotion. And, his low In-Zone Whiff% (16.1%) was a sign of things to come.

It was also a good year for Brooks Baldwin, Kyle Teel, and Chase Meidroth, all of whom didn’t spend too much time in Charlotte before moving to the Windy City.

As for the pitching staff, it was littered with former Major Leaguers, including Mike Clevinger and Owen White.

Noah Schultz, who was hitting 96-97 MPH in Charlotte, was hit hard in his first Triple-A run. Schultz struck out 18 over 16 frames with the Knights. However, he walked nine and gave up three home runs.

Hard-throwing reliever Peyton Pallette struck out 54 over 43 innings. Pallette didn’t do enough to get a spot on the White Sox’s 40-man roster. However, he was taken by Cleveland in the Rule 5 Draft.

Early Projected Top 5 for 2026

1. Braden Montgomery
2. Hagen Smith
3. Billy Carlson
4. Noah Schultz
5. Caleb Bonemer

For practical purposes, we won’t consider Munetaka Murakami for this list, even though he would rank as the top prospect if we were to consider that he never played at the MLB level before 2026. Murakami signed with the White Sox in December 2025.

Montgomery has the potential to be a five-tool player, even though he showed a lot of swing-and-miss in High-A and Double-A.

And after a fairly good Arizona Fall League run, Smith is listed as our #2, ahead of Billy Carlson and Noah Schultz.