Catcher of the Future Edgar Quero’s incendiary June has earned him a promotion to Triple-A Charlotte at age 21.

Charlotte Knights
Record 15-10 (June), 36-43 (overall), 3-2 (second half)

Knights Player of the Month
Mark Payton .333/.400/.591, 93 at-bats

Colson Montgomery .195/.330/.364, 77 at-bats
Michael Chavis .227/.278/.364, 66 at-bats
Carlos Pérez .224/.231/.395, 76 at-bats
Wilmer Difo .356/.494/.542, 59 at-bats
Chuckie Robinson .245/.283/.408, 49 at-bats
Bryan Ramos .208/.232/.299, 77 at-bats
Wynton Bernard .394/.394/.636, 33 at-bats

Touki Toussaint 19 IP, 7 ER, 17 H, 13 BB, 18 K
Johan Domínguez 20 IP, 8 ER, 21 H, 11 BB, 12 K
Nick Nastrini 11 2/3 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, 11 BB, 17 K
Sean Burke 15 1/3 IP, 7 ER, 12 H, 12 BB, 12 K
Chase Plymell 16 1/3 IP, 9 ER, 12 H, 8 BB, 10 K
Chad Kuhl 12 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 10 H, 4 BB, 5 K (promoted to White Sox on June 14)

The Knights had their best month of the season, winning 60% of their games during June.

Mark Payton led the way, putting up a .991 OPS while starting most games in the outfield. Payton won our weekly honor for the entire farm system for the third full week of June, when he slashed .478/.520/1.000. Payton also performed well outside of that phenomenal week, and he played a big role in Charlotte’s successful month. Payton, 32, is looking to make his first MLB appearance since 2022.

2024 Charlotte Knights Players of the Month
Danny Mendick (April)
Zach DeLoach (May)
Mark Payton (June)

Birmingham Barons
Record 11-15 (June), 44-31 (overall), 3-3 (second half)

Barons Player of the Month
Edgar Quero .356/.414/.600, 90 at-bats

Brooks Baldwin .267/.299/.386, 101 at-bats
Jacob Gonzalez .216/.292/.289, 97 at-bats
Tim Elko .323/.370/.419, 93 at-bats
Jason Matthews .250/.324/.375, 64 at-bats
Matt Hogan .364/.533/.636, 22 at-bats

Jairo Iriarte 23 1/3 IP, 17 ER, 25 H, 7 BB, 16 K
Mason Adams 28 2/3 IP, 7 ER, 28 H, 5 BB, 21 K
Jake Eder 17 2/3 IP, 15 ER, 20 H, 6 BB, 25 K
Noah Schultz 19 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 15 H, 3 BB, 25 K
Tyler Schweitzer 19 IP, 4 ER, 13 H, 2 BB, 21 K
Ky Bush 30 IP, 8 ER, 15 H, 10 BB, 21 K (promoted to Charlotte on July 4)

The Barons had a surprisingly cold month, finishing 11-15 to slip a bit closer to .500. However, they are still 44-31, and even without Drew Thorpe, the pitching staff has been quite solid.

For a change, though, it was not a pitcher who earned June’s Barons Player of the Month award. Instead, it was catcher Edgar Quero, who lit up the scoreboard at a premium position across 90 at-bats. Quero finished the month with a 1.014 OPS, launching five homers and seven doubles along the way. Quero, 21, is No. 4 on MLB Pipeline’s White Sox prospect rankings, trailing only Montgomery, Schultz, and Thorpe. In June, Quero showed us why the scouts are so high on him.

2024 Birmingham Barons Players of the Month
Drew Thorpe (April)
Mason Adams (May)
Edgar Quero (June)

Winston-Salem Dash
Record 12-14 (June), 35-40 (overall), 4-5 (second half)

Dash Player of the Week
Jared Kelley 14 IP, 2 ER, 13 H, 6 BB, 12 K

Mario Camilletti .316/.394/.439, 57 at-bats
Shawn Goosenberg .287/.354/.414, 87 at-bats
Wes Kath .223/.291/.330, 94 at-bats
Eddie Park .243/.349/.286, 70 at-bats
Ryan Galanie .253/.359/.443, 79 at-bats
Samuel Zavala .227/.438/.347, 75 at-bats
Colby Smelley .405/.457/.595, 42 at-bats

Tanner McDougal 17 IP, 11 ER, 14 H, 13 BB, 21 K
Drew McDaniel 16 1/3 IP, 16 ER, 24 H, 4 BB, 12 K
Riley Gowens 28 IP, 13 ER, 15 H, 7 BB, 34 K (promoted to Birmingham on July 4)
Juan Carela 20 IP, 9 ER, 25 H, 10 BB, 17 K

The Dash had another mediocre month, but given the lack of top prospects on the roster, they are holding up relatively well compared to expectations, as a good couple of weeks could pull them above .500.

Nobody on the offense had a monstrous month, but Colby Smelley crushed it in a fairly small sample, and interestingly, Samuel Zavala was an on-base machine despite a .227 batting average. However, the winner of this month’s award was reliever Jared Kelley. Kelley was very reliable, only allowing two runs in 14 innings, and quite a bit of that came in high-leverage situations. Overall, in Winston-Salem, Kelley has a 1.40 ERA in 19 1/3 innings. The righty has allowed only one homer, and opposing hitters are batting .208 against him. Kelley, 22, struggled in a small sample size in Birmingham, but he is making a strong case that he deserves another opportunity there.

2024 Winston-Salem Dash Players of the Month
Eric Adler (April)
Shane Murphy (May)
Jared Kelley (June)

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
Record 15-12 (last week), 44-31 (overall), 3-6 (second half)

Cannon Ballers Player of the Month
Luis Pineda .333/.389/.455, 66 at-bats

George Wolkow .228/.322/.443, 79 at-bats
Mikey Kane .286/.378/.476, 63 at-bats
Caden Connor .286/.382/.396, 91 at-bats
Ronny Hernández .279/.444/.344, 61 at-bats
Rikuu Nishida .297/.363/.341, 91 at-bats, 11-for-11 stolen bases

Seth Keener 26 IP, 12 ER, 22 H, 9 BB, 31 K
Mark McLaughlin 15 IP, 3 ER, 9 H, 8 BB, 13 K
Jake Bockenstedt 20 2/3 IP, 8 ER, 16 H, 6 BB, 20 K
Aldrin Batista 19 IP, 7 ER, 11 H, 11 BB, 23 K
Luke Bell 15 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 10 H, 5 BB, 17 K
Lucas Gordon  25 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 18 H, 15 BB, 19 K

Despite cooling off during the last week of June, the Cannon Ballers had another strong month, and they improved to 13 games better than .500.

Catcher Luis Pineda played a large role in the 15-12 month, as he provided a lot of offense, especially for a catcher. Pineda, 22, posted a .389 OBP, and he had entered the month with a .267 OBP, so this explosion was nearly impossible to predict. However, he provided a ton of value, and if he can keep making sharp contact, he will find himself moving up in the system sooner rather than later.

2024 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Players of the Month
Aldrin Batista (April)
Ryan Galanie (May)
Luis Pineda (June)

ACL White Sox
Record 2-3 (last week), 16-25 (overall)

ACL White Sox Player of the Month
Carson Jacobs 10 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 12 K

Leandro Alsinois .226/.294/.387, 62 at-bats
Edrick Felix .228/.343/.386, 57 at-bats
Javier Mogollón .209/.321/.433, 67 at-bats
Abraham Núñez .222/.291/.306, 72 at-bats
Luis Reyes 14 2/3 IP, 8 ER, 15 H, 8 BB, 17 K

Jordany Chirinos 21 2⁄3 IP, 7 ER, 17 H, 11 BB, 23 K
Ricardo Brizuela 16 2/3 IP, 6 ER, 12 H, 2 BB, 22 K

2024 ACL White Sox Players of the Month
Daniel González (May)
Carson Jacobs (June)

DSL White Sox
Record 2-3 (last week), 5-14 (overall)

DSL White Sox Player of the Month
Reudis Díaz 19 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 13 H, 3 BB, 16 K

Jurdrick Profar .271/.434/.373, 59 at-bats
Marcelo Alcala .277/.358/.404, 47 at-bats
Rafael Alvarez .182/.308/.394, 33 at-bats
Jesus Premoli .262/.314/.323, 65 at-bats

Jommy Hernández 15 IP, 4 ER, 11 H, 13 BB, 15 K
Yhoiker Fajardo 21 2/3 IP, 11 ER, 26 H, 3 BB, 32 K

2024 DSL White Sox Players of the Month
Reudis Díaz (June)

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Edgar Quero photo: Birmingham Barons