The Southern League Championship-winning Birmingham Barons dominated the first half of the season with a 41-28 record, finishing first overall. The second half was a different story, as players graduated from Double-A and the Barons actually finished slightly under .500 with a 31-38 record, sixth overall in the Southern League. They ultimately finished fourth overall for the season, with a 72-66 record and +62 run differential. In grand fashion, the season was capped off by a clutch playoff run that ended with the Barons winning the championship on a walk-off single from DJ Gladney.

That being said, it was certainly a successful season for Birmingham manager, Sergio Santos, who made his debut as the Barons skipper in 2024. Back in 2009 when he was in the beginning of his major league success, Santos actually pitched in the Chicago White Sox minor league system and advanced through all four levels — including a stint in Birmingham!

If you’ve been following the Barons as closely as I have this year (I hope you haven’t, it’s probably not healthy), there’s one name that you’ve likely heard over and over again: Wilfred Veras. The Dominican power hitter played the entire season with Birmingham, and went to the plate more times than anyone, with 491 ABs. He led the team in hits (131), RBIs (60), doubles (27), and home runs (16). TLDR: Veras was dominant across the board. Veras finished with a .743 OPS, the sixth-highest on the team, and ironically enough, Veras had a strikeout problem (26% K rate), something he will definitely want to improve heading into the 2025 season. His success (thankfully) leaked right into a fantastic postseason, going 7-for-16 with a 1.063 OPS, posting five RBIs — tied for team-high.

Prior to getting called up to the big leagues, Brooks Baldwin played roughly half of the season with the Barons, and led the team with a .827 OPS. Baldwin also finished fourth in hits (92), and third in doubles. His success at the Double-A level didn’t transition perfectly into the majors — not that the White Sox weren’t already terrible regardless — but he’s still a young and developing player who has most certainly not reached his ceiling. In 114 big league ABs, he ended up with a .211 BA and a .566 OPS, amounting to 0 WAR.

In 72 games and 255 ABs, Edgar Quero was a big part of Birmingham’s first half success before heading to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights on July 4. Quero was Birmingham’s offensive runner-up, right behind Baldwin in OPS (.823) and SLG (.463), and just behind Veras with 53 RBIs. In 26 games with the Knights, Quero actually improved in BA, OBP, and OPS (.845), showing some promise as a strong bat who can also hold things down behind the plate.

Although he played the majority of the season with the Winston-Salem Dash, DJ Gladney fit in nicely in the 24 games he played with the Barons. Gladney’s .278 BA was 19% higher upon moving up to Double-A, and his OPS increased from .729 to .819. He closed out the season splendidly for the Barons, ripping a line drive single up the middle in his final at-bat of the season to win the 2024 championship.

Speaking of the postseason, Jacob Gonzalez had the strongest performance, going 7-for-15 with an insane .733 SLG, and the team’s top OPS (1.312). Gonzalez’s regular season numbers were largely underwhelming with the Barons after starting off very hot after his promotion from Winston-Salem, but he was one of the largest offensive contributors throughout the championship run. Terrell Tatum was also a big bat in the postseason, driving in five RBIs and amassing a 1.008 OPS.

Jairo Iriarte joined the White Sox organization this past offseason after being involved in a three-prospect trade with the San Diego Padres in return for Dylan Cease. Iriarte was been a welcome addition to the Barons rotation, and his 126 innings were the most by any Barons starter in 2024, ending the season with a 3.71 ERA — certainly serviceable, but showing a lot of potential to improve not only his ERA but his WHIP. Iriarte racked up the most K’s on the team with 122, but he also walked the most batters (57), amounting to a 1.28 WHIP.

Mason Adams was another pitcher who was efficient outing after outing, proven by the fact that he got promoted to Charlotte in August. Adams threw the secondmost innings for the Barons (103 1/3), and was right on Iriarte’s heels for the strikeout lead, finishing second with 101 and a respectable 1.05 WHIP. Adams was also the only Birmingham starter who threw a complete game this season, something you don’t see very often!

In terms of ERA and WHIP, Drew Thorpe‘s 60 innings with the Barons were very impressive, ultimately earning him the promotion to the White Sox in mid-June. Thorpe was also involved in the Cease trade, so while you can’t truly replace a superstar starter, the pitching return in the trade looks promising. In his 11 starts, Thorpe held the top ERA among 2024 Birmingham starters (1.35), and an exquisite 0.87 WHIP. Thorpe ended up with a 5.48 ERA across his nine MLB starts, with a lot of room for improvement.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Ky Bush — who came to the White Sox after trading Lucas Giolito last summer — who was also promoted to the majors but spent a lot of time with the Barons first, making 14 starts and posting a 2.12 ERA in 86 1/3 innings. Bush also struggled in his transition from the minors into MLB, ending the season with a 5.68 ERA after just four starts.

Noah Schultz spent a decent amount of time in High-A with the Dash before being promoted to the Barons at the end of May. Schultz is the top prospect in the White Sox system, and is ranked the 16th prospect in all of baseball. His performance definitely shows it, too. In 16 starts and 61 innings with Birmingham, Schultz only allowed 10 runs, and racked up 73 Ks and a 1.02 WHIP.

Now taking a look at the relievers, there were a few guys who were consistently reliable for the Barons: Garrett Schoenle, Peyton Pallette and Adisyn Coffey. All three posted sub-2.00 ERAs and a WHIP below one — with Coffey posting the best ERA (0.53) in 17 relief innings for the Barons. Pallette spent the bulk of the year in Winston-Salem, but in his 15 innings with the Barons, he improved from a 4.95 ERA to 1.80. Schoenle was highly efficient in 55 innings, posting a 1.64 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP, striking out 68 batters. He also made five starts (and participated in two no-hitters!), so his production is truly impressive being able to shift out of the roles so easily.