2024 Barons Outlook
The Birmingham Barons will start the 2024 season with great optimism. They will return many familiar faces who played well in the last half of last season. Starting Pitchers Right-handed pitcher Jonathan Cannon, drafted in the third round in 2022, will get starts for the Barons this season. Cannon was
The Birmingham Barons will start the 2024 season with great optimism. They will return many familiar faces who played well in the last half of last season.
Starting Pitchers
Right-handed pitcher Jonathan Cannon, drafted in the third round in 2022, will get starts for the Barons this season. Cannon was 6-6 with a 4.46 ERA with two minor league teams last season. Last year, Cannon started in 11 games with a 1-4 record and a 5.77 ERA with the Barons. Cannon is #10 in the Chicago White Sox 2023 prospect rankings.
Left-handed pitcher Ky Bush made his way to the Barons during the middle of last season when he was traded by the Los Angeles Angels along with catcher Edgar Quero, who was playing for the Rocket City Trash Pandas to the Chicago White Sox and transferred to the Birmingham Barons along with Quero. The White Sox sent RHP Lucas Giolito and RHP Reynaldo Lopez to the Angels in that trade. Bush was 4-8 with a 6.91 ERA with three minor league teams last season. With the Barons, Bush was 3-4 with the Barons with a 6.70 ERA in nine starts last season. Bush was a second-round pick in the 2021 draft pick by the Angels. Bush is #9 in the Chicago White Sox 2023 prospect rankings.
Right-handed pitcher Josimar Cousin was signed as a free agent in 2023. Last season with three minor league teams, Cousin posted a 2-2 record with a 5.56 ERA. With the Barons in two starts, Cousin was 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA. Cousin is from Havana, Cuba.
Right-handed pitcher Mason Adams was drafted in the 13th round of the 2022 draft. Last season, Adams was 6-5 with a 3.28 ERA with three minor league teams and 0-2 with a 2.70 ERA in three starts with the Barons.
Right-handed pitcher Connor McCullough was signed as a free agent in 2022. He did not pitch for the Barons last season but was 8-8 with a 4.25 ERA with two minor league teams and 5-5 with a 5.33 ERA with Winston Salem last season.
Right-handed pitcher Andrew Dalquist was signed in the 2019 draft in the third round. He was 3-6 with a 7.69 ERA in 15 starts for Winston Salem last season.
Left-handed pitcher Brooks Gosswein was a 2021 fourth-round pick by the White Sox. Last season, he was 1-6 with a 5.32 ERA with two minor league teams and 0-2 with a 2.45 ERA with three starts with the Barons.
Left-handed pitcher Garrett Schoenle was picked in the 30th round by the Cincinnati Reds. Last season with the Barons, Schoenle started in 18 games and had 16 relief opportunities. Schoenle was 4-7 with a 6.22 ERA in 34 games for the Barons.
Relief Pitchers
Right-handed pitcher Jared Kelley was drafted by the White Sox in the second round of the 2020 draft. Last season, he was 2-7 with a 7.48 ERA. In 16 relief appearances with the Barons, he was 0-3 with an 11.74 ERA.
Right-handed pitcher Adisyn Coffey was a 2020 third-round pick of the White Sox. In 18 relief appearances with the Barons, Coffey was 1-0 with a 5.26 ERA.
Left-handed pitcher Gil Luna was a ninth-round pick in the 2021 draft by the White Sox. Luna was 1-3 with a 6.13 ERA in 40 relief appearances for the Barons last season.
Jordan Mikel was a 2021 free-agent pickup for the White Sox. Last season, he was 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA with two minor league teams. With Winston Salem, the right-hander was 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 12 relief appearances.
Right-handed pitcher Tristan Stivors was the White Sox's 16th-round pick in the 2022 draft. Last season, Stivors was 5-4 with a 3.52 ERA with three minor league teams. He was 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 10 relief appearances with the Barons.
Left-handed pitcher Jake Palisch was a free-agent pickup for the White Sox in 2022. Last season, he was 1-2 with a 5.31 ERA in 36 relief appearances with Winston-Salem.
Right-handed pitcher Chase Plymell was picked up as a free agent in 2021. Last season, he was 4-5 with a 4.66 ERA with two minor league teams and 0-2 with an 8.50 ERA in 15 relief appearances and one start with the Barons.
Right-handed pitcher Ernesto Jaquez, from the Dominican Republic, was a free-agent pickup for the White Sox in 2022. Last season with Winson Salem, Jaquez was 5-0 with a 5.30 ERA in 21 relief appearances.
Left-handed pitcher Haylen Green was drafted by the White Sox in the 12th round in 2021. Last season, Green was 4-1 with a 5.83 ERA with three minor league teams. He was also 1-0 with five saves, five holds, and a 5.56 ERA with the Barons.
Right-handed pitcher Johnny Ray was drafted in the 12th round of the 2021 draft. Last season, Ray was 3-1 with a 7.04 ERA with three different minor league teams. Ray was 1-1 with Winston Salem with a 6.97 ERA in 12 relief appearances.
Catchers
Edgar Quero was signed as a free agent in 2021 with the Los Angeles Angels. Quero was packaged in a trade with Ky Bush involving MLB players RHP Lucas Giolito and RHP Reynaldo Lopez of the Chicago White Sox. Bush and Quero were moved to the Los Angeles Angels while Bush and Quero were coming from the Rocket City Trash Pandas. Last season between Rocket City and Birmingham, Quero hit .255 with six home runs and 57 RBIs. Quero is from Cuba.
Michael Turner was drafted in the ninth round of the 2022 draft. With Winson Salem, Turner played 92 games and hit .309 with four home runs and 41 RBIs. Turner played college baseball at Arkansas.
Troy Claunch signed as a free agent in 2022. Claunch hit .186 with four home runs and 21 RBIs with four minor league teams with the White Sox last season. The only minor league team he didn’t play for was the Barons last season. Claunch played baseball at Texas A&M.
Infielders
First baseman Tim Elko was drafted in the 10th round of the 2022 draft. Elko was drafted out of Ole Miss. In 2023, he played for three minor league teams with the White Sox and hit .295 with 28 home runs and 106 RBIs. With the Barons, Elko hit .269 with six home runs and 23 RBIs. Elko earned the distinction of Carolina League All-Star at the Designated Hitter position by Minor League Baseball (MiLB) for his efforts with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers in 2023.
Alsander Womack played about everywhere in the infield in 2023 for the Barons. He was signed as a free agent in 2022. Between Winston-Salem and Birmingham, Womack hit .263 with nine home runs and 57 RBIs. With the Barons, he hit .258 with seven home runs and 46 RBIs.
Third baseman Bryce Willits was picked in round 18 of the 2022 draft. Last season, he hit .268 with 12 home runs and 62 RBIs in 115 games between Kannapolis and Winston-Salem. In May 2023, he was named Carolina League “Player of the Week.”
Third baseman Brooks Baldwin was drafted by the White Sox in the 12th round in 2022. He hit .269 with 15 home runs, 58 RBIs, and 22 SBs. With Winson Salem, Baldwin hit .327 with five home runs, 19 RBIs, and eight stolen bases. Baldwin played baseball at UNC Wilmington.
Shortstop Shawn Goosenberg was the White Sox's 19th-round pick in the 2021 draft. He hit .261 with nine home runs, 48 RBIs, and 32 stolen bases in 104 games between Winson Salem and Birmingham. Goosenberg played baseball at Northwestern.
Shortstop Taishi Nakawake was signed as a free agent by the White Sox in 2022. In 81 games at Winston Salem last season, He hit .201 with one home run, 28 RBIs, and six stolen bases. Nakawake played college baseball at UC Irvine.
Shortstop Angelo Castellano was signed by the Kansas City Royals in 2011. He played for the Omaha Storm Chasers in 2023 and hit .281 with 15 home runs, 55 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases. Castellano is from Venezuela.
Infielder Jason Matthews is another versatile infielder for the Barons. The White Sox signed Matthews as a free agent in 2023. Matthew played for three White Sox minor league teams last season. With the Barons, he hit .209 with two home runs, six RBIs, and a stolen base last season. Matthews is from New Zealand.
Outfielders
Right fielder Wilfred Veras, from the Dominican Republic, has signed as a free agent with the White Sox in 2019. Last season, Veras played in 130 games between Winston Salem and Birmingham, hitting 17 home runs, 93 RBI, and 24 stolen Bases.
Centerfielder Terrell Tatum has great speed on defense and the base paths for the Barons. He was drafted in the 16th round of the 2021 draft. Last season with Winston Salem and Birmingham, Tatum hit .248 with six home runs, 51 RBIs, and 47 stolen bases. In 65 games in Birmingham, Tatum hit .268 with two home runs, 22 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases.
Duke Ellis was drafted in the 20th round of the 2017 White Sox draft. Ellis is one of the fastest players in the organization. Injuries plagued Ellis, as he only played in 16 games with the Barons last season. Ellis played baseball at Texas.
Ben Norman was signed as a free agent by the White Sox in 2021. Last season, Norman hit .215 with nine home runs, 32 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases between Winston-Salem and Birmingham. Norman played his college baseball at Iowa.