Southside Prospect Weekly: Adams, Sandlin Reclaim Value
By Gordon Kairis ·
Mason Adams Could Contribute Down the Stretch
Mason Adams (AAA, RHP, Rank: 13) gave Charlotte a textbook outing this week: 5 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 5 strikeouts, and 2 walks on 18 batters faced. He now owns a 3.90 ERA over 30 Triple-A innings with 30 strikeouts against 11 walks and only 25 hits allowed. Charlotte is a difficult place to pitch and this performance bodes well for him contributing in Chicago down the stretch. He's limited baserunners with a pristine 1.19 WHIP across 12 starts at three levels as he finishes his Tommy John climb-back.
The story here is not about stuff jumping; it is about an arm with a 60-grade command, a four- and two-seam fastball around 92, and a true downer curveball showing he is again capable of turning lineups over every fifth day. Adams’ latest week reinforced the scouting notes: he pitches to contact when he wants, leans on the curveball as the main bat-misser, and repeats a clean, efficient delivery that can carry starter workloads. After a messy initial Triple-A transition and the surgery, this type of zero-earn-run, near-hitless outing pushes him up the internal depth chart from rehab project into credible next-man-up spot-starter.
David Sandlin Throws Four Solid Frames
David Sandlin (AAA, RHP, Rank: 10) followed suit with his own upper-minors statement, working 4 innings for Charlotte with 1 hit, 1 run, 2 strikeouts, and 3 walks. He allowed a few walks but minimized hard contact hitting spots with his six-pitch mix. The performance at Triple-A now sports a 2.37 ERA across 38 innings with 33 strikeouts and 20 walks.
Sandlin is never going to look like an ace on paper, but this week was a clean snapshot of what his profile has always promised: a broad mix built around a mid-90s fastball and a 55-grade curve that can carry a back-end starter or bulk role as long as the command stays somewhere near average. The three walks remind you the control grade is still closer to 40, yet when he was in the zone he showed again that his curveball can finish at-bats and his cutter and slider are enough to keep hitters off fastball timing. Paired with Adams, he gives the org a second upper-minors arm who can credibly cover spot starts or three- to four-inning bridge work, which is a far cry from the emergency-only options the club leaned on the last few seasons.
From Thin Ice To Actual Choices: Upper-Minors Depth Is Quietly Back
The larger takeaway from a week where Adams blanked opponents over five and Sandlin checked another efficient multi-inning box is how different the picture looks at Birmingham and Charlotte compared to the emergency shuttle years. Between Adams (AAA, RHP, Rank: 13) adjusting post-TJ expectations as a realistic fourth or fifth starter, Sandlin (AAA, RHP, Rank: 10) proving his curve and mix can sustain rotation turns, and arms like Shane Murphy (AAA, LHP, Rank: 59) logging bulk innings with a 2.08 ERA in his latest 4.1-frame outing despite modest stuff, the White Sox now have several names who project as actual rotation and long-relief choices, not just bodies.
Even further down, Blaine Wynk (A, RHP, Rank: 52) tossed 3.1 scoreless innings this week with 4 strikeouts and no walks and now carries a 3.00 ERA across 51 innings with 41 strikeouts and 17 walks. For a mid-90s fastball, hard change, cutter profile that sits in the up-down reliever band, that steady strike-throwing matters because it gives the org another future middle-innings candidate rather than a pure arm-strength flier. Add Juan Carela’s (AA, RHP, Rank: 38) 4.2 scoreless frames with 4 strikeouts and only 1 walk behind his 3.20 ERA combined line, and you start to see the spine of a pipeline where multiple levels are producing rotation options. The top-of-the-rotation upside still rests elsewhere, but the floor behind the big club has risen.
Quick Hits
Rikuu Nishida (AAA, 2B, Rank: 57) went 8-for-18 with a triple, seven singles, seven walks, and five RBIs over five games, good for a .444/.600/.556 line. That pushes his Charlotte season to .308/.428/.350 with 16 steals and 45 walks against 55 strikeouts, and stacks another week of him being what the org expects: a contact bat with a 60 hit tool feel and real OBP-driven value despite minimal power.
Dylan Campbell (AA, CF, Rank: 25) posted a .462/.533/.692 slash in four games, going 6-for-13 with a homer, five singles, three RBIs, and a HBP. His combined 2026 mark now sits at .229/.308/.405 with 18 steals, but this week was a nice reminder that when his swing decisions hold and he gets into advantage counts, the 45 power and 60 speed can show up together.
Ely Brown (A+, OF, Rank: 50) had a big week in Winston-Salem, going 7-for-14 with a double, a triple, and two RBIs. On the season he sits at .263/.406/.344 with 13 steals and 65 walks in 361 plate appearances. He didn't have any free passes this week, but this stretch was a good illustration of the contact-and-OBP backbone of his profile finally pairing with some gap impact.
Billy Carlson (A, SS, Rank: 5) returned from injury and immediately went .385/.526/.615 over four games, with a double, triple, five walks, and six RBIs. That bumps his combined line to .257/.386/.351 with 33 walks and 12 steals. This is a glove-first shortstop whose offensive path is built on zone control and gap power rather than early big slug numbers. Given the org's depth at shortstop, Carlson could be a piece they use to accelerate their timetable and fill in their Major League club.
Leandro Alsinois (R, CF, Rank: 58) showed a rare power spike in a three-game sample, going 3-for-9 with a double and a homer for a .333/.400/.778 line. The season line is still light at .184/.245/.230, but weeks like this at least show there is some game damage to tap into if the hit tool and swing decisions can stabilize.
Matthew Boughton (A, SS, Rank: 53) went 4-for-15 with two triples, a double, three walks, and zero strikeouts. For a speed-and-athleticism profile that has been fighting strikeout rate and modest slug, a K-free week with real extra-base impact is a tidy data point.
Ryan Galanie (AAA, 3B, Rank: 30) kept showing his corner bat credentials by going 5-for-13 with a double and a homer. His season line now sits at .283/.355/.537 with 15 homers and 50 RBIs across Double-A and Triple-A. Galanie will give you a good at-bat. He looks like an up-down type but will give you stretches where he looks like a Major League regular.
Nick McLain (A, OF, Rank: 31) didn’t light up the hit column this week, going 1-for-5, but he drew five walks for a .600 OBP. The bat doesn't really fit the corner profile but the Sox like his make-up.
Jaden Fauske (A, OF, Rank: 8) ran a very Fauske line over four games: .286/.500/.286 with four singles, four walks, two HBPs, two RBIs, and a pair of steals. He is now at .262/.396/.387 with 33 steals, 62 walks, and eight triples over 83 games for Kannapolis. He brings the athleticism to the ballpark everyday.
Ryan Burrowes (A+, SS, Rank: 14) chipped in a .294/.333/.588 week with a double, a homer, and three RBIs, pushing his Winston-Salem line to .265/.382/.428 with 32 steals in 85 games. For a speed-and-defense middle infielder, that level of gap and occasional home-run power keeps the conversation open about second-division regular.
Grant Umberger (A+, LHP, Rank: 55) had a rougher outing this week, allowing 5 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks over 5 innings, but his season still sits at 5.83 ERA with 64 strikeouts against 29 walks in 78.2 innings. The longer view is that his sinker/slider/change command remains his path to depth starter or long-relief work, even if the velocity and pure stuff are more about execution than upside.
Shane Murphy (AAA, LHP, Rank: 59) continued to do his bulk-innings thing with 4.1 frames of one-run ball, scattering 4 hits and 3 walks with 2 strikeouts. Coupled with his 93 combined innings of 5.81 ERA but 68 strikeouts and only 25 walks, he sits firmly in the “strike-throwing lefty who can absorb innings and be a long man or spot starter if the big club needs someone in a pinch.