Southside Prospect Weekly: Sandlin Dominates at Charlotte, Zavala's Patient Week Pops at Birmingham
By Gordon Kairis ·
Southside Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the White Sox farm system.
Sandlin's Charlotte Statement
David Sandlin (AAA, RHP, Rank: 14) took home White Sox Minor League Player of the Week honors after throwing seven shutout innings for Charlotte, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out nine. He generated 16 swinging misses on 91 pitches, with 51 of those landing for strikes. Such an outing from a pitcher who spent stretches of June and July in a big-league rotation is meaningful context: Sandlin had been up with Chicago three times this year, and the major league results were rough, a 6.93 ERA in 24.2 innings with 19 earned runs across five appearances. The Triple-A number is a different story entirely. His AAA ERA for 2026 sits at 2.28 through 13 starts, and over the last 30 days he has posted a 3.80 ERA across 23.2 innings with a 23.2 percent strikeout rate and an 8.1 percent walk rate, both within range of what he showed in his best stretches earlier in the season.
The profile is a setup reliever projection built on a four-seam fastball that reaches 97-101 mph and a hard slider in the high 80s with late tilt. The concern has always been that the heater, despite the velocity, plays softer than the radar gun suggests due to modest extension, and the broad repertoire can work against him when there is no clear sequencing plan. This week those problems did not show up: nine strikeouts and 16 swinging misses across seven innings suggest the slider was sharp and the fastball was getting on hitters quickly. Whether the command holds over a longer stretch is a fair question given a career 45-grade command mark, but a seven-inning shutout on a week where everything clicked is notable. A pitcher with this stuff, pitching this well at Triple-A with options remaining, stays relevant to the big-league conversation through the end of the year.
Zavala Goes Deep Into Counts and Keeps Getting On
Samuel Zavala (AA, CF, Rank: 21) had a week that will not dazzle in a box score: 3-for-11 with two doubles, one RBI, seven walks, and three strikeouts across 19 plate appearances at Birmingham. The counting stats are modest, but seven walks and a hit-by-pitch against just three strikeouts represent a week that fits his profile as a 45 hit, 45 power left-handed outfielder whose best offensive attribute is strike-zone awareness. He has a 38.1 percent swing rate this season, one of the more selective marks in the system, and the approach has been even more extreme over the last 30 days. In 71 plate appearances at Double-A since early August, Zavala is slashing .314/.507/.510 with a 25.4 percent walk rate and a 16.9 percent strikeout rate, his contact rate holding around 69 percent on a 33 percent swing rate. That is an exceptional month of plate discipline from a 22-year-old at Double-A.
The bigger-picture question is whether the walk totals eventually translate into enough offensive impact for an everyday role. His season slash at Birmingham sits at .231/.377/.374, which tells the profile: the on-base skills are real, the batting average has lagged, and the 12 home runs show some emerging power in the right direction. He projects as a left-field fourth outfielder or up-down option at the major league level, with a ceiling of second-division regular if added strength stabilizes his power and the timing issues against velocity get cleaned up. The leg kick can cause the lower half to drift, and that creates in-zone swing-and-miss against premium fastballs. But a month in which he owns a .507 on-base percentage at Double-A, including a week with seven walks and a hit-by-pitch, is real production regardless of the batting average. He is making pitchers work, and that has value.
Quick Hits
Javier Mogollon (A+, 2B, Rank: 20) · went 7-for-31 with three home runs and seven RBI this week at Winston-Salem, adding two walks against seven strikeouts in 31 plate appearances. The three homers are a meaningful output for a 20-year-old who graded at 50 raw power but carries a 60.7 percent contact rate and a 29.9 percent strikeout rate on the season. Over his last 30 days he is hitting with a .456 slugging mark and six home runs in 124 plate appearances, with 14 combined on the year between Kannapolis and High-A. The speed-and-contact-questions profile is finding some real thump this summer.
Jeral Perez (A+, 3B, Rank: 14) · drove in three on 8 hits, including two home runs, in 27 plate appearances at Winston-Salem, with just two strikeouts all week. It was a continuation of a strong August: over his last 30 days at High-A he is hitting .302/.413/.523 with five home runs and a 14.4 percent strikeout rate, a significant step down from the 27.8 percent K rate that has defined his Double-A work this season. The split between levels is stark; his A+ slash across 240 plate appearances reads .271/.371/.438, while his 248-plate-appearance Double-A line sits at .180/.282/.281. Right now the bat plays at High-A, and that is where it needs to stay until the swing decisions tighten against better pitching.
Colby Shelton (AA, 2B, Rank: 19) · posted 5 hits with two home runs, a triple, a double, and two RBI in 21 plate appearances at Birmingham. The power is the carrying tool, graded at 55, and 16 home runs at Double-A through 88 games backs that up. His last 30 days include four home runs and a .462 slugging mark in 94 plate appearances, though the season contact rate of 71.2 percent on a 47.7 percent swing rate means there is some risk attached to every hot stretch. His combined line of .248/.341/.497 with 23 homers across both levels is a legitimate number for a 23-year-old bat-forward second baseman.
Kyle Lodise (A+, SS, Rank: 11) · had 7 hits, a homer, a triple, a double, and seven RBI in 31 plate appearances at Winston-Salem, also drawing five walks against eight strikeouts. His last 30 days are genuinely striking: a .303/.431/.626 slash with seven home runs, seven doubles, and two triples across 123 plate appearances, with a 17.9 percent walk rate and a 37.5 percent swing rate. He is a 50 hit, 45 power player by grade, and the recent power output pushes both of those numbers. Twenty total home runs on the season with 42 stolen bases makes him a complete offensive producer at High-A, and the everyday shortstop question is worth watching even if the 45-grade arm pushes him toward second base long-term.
Shane Murphy (AAA, LHP, Rank: 39) · was promoted from Birmingham to Charlotte on August 28 and wasted no time, throwing seven shutout innings in his first Triple-A outing of the week, allowing four hits and one walk while fanning five. Murphy's Triple-A ERA on the season was 5.83 before this start, with 24 home runs allowed in 75.2 innings, a real concern for a 40-grade fastball arm whose entire value runs through command and sequencing. Over the last 30 days at Birmingham before the promotion, though, he posted a 1.90 ERA across 23.2 innings with a 6.3 percent walk rate. He projects as a long reliever or depth starter, and a Quad-A outcome is the realistic ceiling, but this outing at least resets the Triple-A conversation.
Truman Pauley (A, RHP, Rank: 45) · struck out 11 over five innings of one-run ball at Kannapolis, walking one and allowing five hits. He got 18 swinging misses on 84 pitches, a whiff rate consistent with his 33 percent season mark. His last 30 days look a lot better than his full-season ERA of 5.30: in five August starts he has posted a 2.70 ERA across 23.1 innings with 29 strikeouts and a 29 percent K rate. The 35-grade command is still the limiting factor, but when the delivery is on, the whiff production is real for a 22-year-old with a 45-grade fastball.
Alexander Albertus (A, SS, Rank: 15) · went 6-for-16 with two doubles and two RBI at Kannapolis in 16 plate appearances, adding one walk against two strikeouts. He is a 55 hit tool contact bat with a 77.8 percent career contact rate, and the last 30 days show a .291/.378/.392 slash in 92 plate appearances at Low-A with a 15.2 percent strikeout rate. The power is light at 45 grade, but a 21-year-old who puts the bat on the ball this consistently while drawing walks projects as a useful piece at the next level if the contact translates upward.
Nick McLain (A+, OF, Rank: 26) · went 5-for-17 with a homer, a double, and four RBI in 17 plate appearances at Winston-Salem. He was named Dash Player of the Week for August 24-30 after a .429/.529/1.000 stretch with two homers and two doubles. Over his last 30 days at High-A he is slashing .304/.425/.536 with three home runs and seven doubles in 87 plate appearances. A 50 hit, 50 power switch-hitter with a 55-grade arm in right field, McLain's ceiling is a second-division regular and the recent production at Winston-Salem suggests the bat is moving in the right direction.
Mathias LaCombe (AA, RHP, Rank: 25) · threw 4.1 hitless innings at Birmingham, walking one and striking out six while generating seven swinging misses on 68 pitches. His ERA at Double-A sits at 6.75 across 16 innings, so the no-hit outing stands apart from the season trend, though his High-A line before the promotion was a tidy 2.88 ERA with a 34 percent strikeout rate. The running fastball and low-slot sweeper profile plays in short bursts, and a bullpen-focused role makes the most sense given the command history and durability concerns from prior shoulder and lat trouble.
Peyton Pallette (AAA, RHP, Rank: 18) · returned from the injured list on August 30, then landed right back on the 7-day IL on September 2 after just one outing: 0.2 innings, three walks, one strikeout, no earned runs. The injury has not been confirmed in available sources. His AAA ERA for the season sits at 3.62 across 27.1 innings, and he also logged time with Cleveland's big-league club at 5.23 over 20.2 innings. The quick turnaround on the IL is concerning, but there is no confirmed diagnosis to attach to it.
Tanner McDougal (AAA, RHP, Rank: 8) · was recalled by Chicago on September 1 and optioned back to Charlotte on September 2 after allowing three walks in one-third of an inning. His Triple-A ERA sits at 3.92 across 41.1 innings this season. The brief recall was more about roster flexibility than a statement about his standing as the system's eighth-ranked prospect.
Blaine Wynk (A+, RHP, Rank: 52) · earned a promotion from Kannapolis to Winston-Salem on August 30 after posting a 2.71 ERA across 66.1 innings in 23 Low-A appearances. His High-A debut produced 2 innings, one walk, and one strikeout in his first look at A+ hitters.
Seth Keener (AA, RHP, Rank: 34) · was assigned to Birmingham from Winston-Salem on August 30, his first promotion to Double-A. He carried a 6.46 ERA across 46 innings in 34 High-A relief appearances this season, so the promotion arrives more as organizational movement at the end of the year than a signal that the stuff has taken a step forward.