The White Sox have made a historic turnaround, as just two seasons after losing 121 games, they are leading the AL Central and have a real shot to make the playoffs with a bye in the first round. Credit is due to Chris Getz as he made some savvy moves this off-season, adding key players like Tristan Peters, Munetaka Murakami, and Sean Newcomb, to help propel this winning season.
Additionally, he has reloaded the White Sox farm system, as we are already seeing the fruits of his labor contribute at the major league level. The White Sox have gotten a ton of production out of their rookies this season and should have 3-4 players in the top-10 of the Rookie of the Year voting.
Outside of the major league contributions, Chris Getz has brought in some significant talent in the minor leagues, including 2025 first round pick, Billy Carlson, who had a very good debut season. Unfortunately, according to Scott Merkin, the White Sox have shut Carlson and Roch Cholowsky down for the remainder of the year. While Cholowsky hardly got to play, let’s take a deeper dive into Carlson’s 2026 minor league season.
Carlson ended up playing in 60 games for the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers this season, slashing .252/.380/.335. For a prospect who had concerns about his bat, this is a very solid start to his minor league career, as getting adjusted to professional pitching right out of high school is a very difficult thing to do.
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Carlson added 14 doubles, two triples, 14 stolen bases, and walked 41 times compared to just 59 strikeouts. This was good for a very solid .715 OPS. While the power wasn’t there yet, he certainly knew how to get on base, as he took his walks and was able to slash the gaps.
Just missed by a few feet again. Still waiting on #1 for Billy Carlson, but you'll take ground rule 2B too. #Ballers pic.twitter.com/xUI60HMgHo
— FutureSox (@FutureSox) July 26, 2026
Additionally in the field, Carlson had a very good .976 fielding percentage, as he is known to be one of the better defensive infielders in the minor leagues. When you pair that with his cannon for an arm, he has all the traits to be a longtime shortstop in the major leagues.
Obviously you would have liked to see Carlson play more, as he missed a huge chunk in the early part of the season and is now shut down for the rest of the year. However, when he did play, he impressed and showed why he was a top-10 pick in the draft. I wouldn’t worry about his injury history, as these seem to be one-offs rather than the makings of an injury prone player. However, if this happens again next year, then there may be a concern of his ability to stay on the field.
Carlson is still a few years away from making his MLB debut, but he certainly looked the part of a first round pick, as he flashed his tools when he was on the field. We will see how the major league infield shakes out over the next two seasons, but with his defensive ability, he may be gunning for the shortstop job in Chicago for the long haul.
