The White Sox have added plenty of talent to their farm system over the last 12-24 months, as they had a very good draft in 2022 and 2023, as well as some very good trade deadlines that have netted some good young talent. Winston-Salem is one of the levels where there is plenty of talent, as they feature four prospects in the White Sox top-30 list. Here we take a look at who has been playing well to start the season off in Winston-Salem:
Shawn Goosenberg
Shawn Goosenberg might not be a name that many White Sox fans are familiar with, but they should begin to familiarize themselves. Goosenberg was a 19th round pick out of Northwestern in 2021 and has played very well through his first two years in the minor leagues.
Goosenberg owns a career .252 average, with a very solid .351 OBP. He has 21 career homeruns and 97 RBIs, while adding 50 stolen bases over essentially a season and a half of at-bats.
He has always been a solid all-around player, but now he has added more power to his game, making him a much more dangerous hitter.
So far on the season, Goosenberg has seven homeruns, while his career season high is nine. He is currently on pace to crush that number, as he could easily have it doubled by the end of August. With that, he is also driving in a lot more runs, as he has 29 RBIs to this point, with his career season high being 48. This is a huge improvement out of Goosenberg, as if he can consistently hit for power, he could make his way through the minor leagues.
Goosenberg is 24, so he is due for a promotion to AA shortly. He ended up playing the last three games of the 2023 season in AA Birmingham, but for some reason they decided to assign him to High-A to start out the 2024 season. Perhaps it was due to playing time, but with his newfound power, he is bound to get a promotion sooner rather than later.
Juan Carela
One of the pitchers throwing very well to start the season is Juan Carela. Acquired in the trade that sent Keynan Middleton to the Yankees, Carela has pitched very well since joining the White Sox organization and it has turned out to be a very solid trade for the White Sox.
When the White Sox acquired him at the deadline last year, he had a 3.67 ERA over 16 starts for the Yankees High-A affiliate. Once traded, he pitched just as well for the White Sox, as he had a 3.34 ERA for the Dash in six starts to finish out the year. Now, this year, he is pitching even better.
So far on the season, he has a 3.15 ERA. He has a very good 1.19 WHIP, and hitters aren't getting much going against him, as he has a .192 batting average against. He needs to cut down on the walks this season, but they aren't too much of an issue for him right now, as he is much better than most of the hitters despite being one year younger than the average age in High-A.
Carela is a high upside pitcher that was a fantastic acquisition at the deadline for the White Sox. The AA rotation is absolutely stacked right now, so once promotions start to happen in Birmingham, he will likely be the arm called up to replace them.
Winston Salem has a lot of talent and should be getting more, as some top prospects are making their debuts at Low-A, which allows for other players to get a promotion to High-A.
