{"id":97025,"date":"2025-09-22T22:29:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T22:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=97025"},"modified":"2025-09-22T22:29:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T22:29:28","slug":"white-sox-minor-league-player-of-the-week-sept-15-21-2025-dru-baker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=97025","title":{"rendered":"White Sox Minor League Player of the Week (Sept. 15-21, 2025): Dru Baker"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charlotte Knights<\/strong>
\nRecord<\/strong> 2-4 (last week), 29-46 (second half), 65-85 (overall)<\/p>\n

Knights Player of the Week<\/strong>
\nDru Baker<\/strong> .438\/.471\/.813, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 16 at-bats<\/p>\n

Corey Julks<\/strong> .263\/.333\/.474, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 19 at-bats
\nDrake Logan<\/strong> .333\/.412\/.400, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 15 at-bats
\nJacob Gonzalez <\/strong>.188\/.235\/.250, 2-for-2 stolen bases, 16 at-bats
\nBryan Ramos <\/strong>.143\/.182\/.333, 21 at-bats
\nTim Elko <\/strong>.273\/.304\/.273, 22 at-bats<\/p>\n

Noah Schultz<\/strong> Did not play (shut down, knee)
\nDuncan Davitt<\/strong> 6 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 K
\n[redacted] <\/strong>5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 K
\nJonathan Cannon <\/strong>3 1\/3 IP, 5 R (3 ER), 9 H, 2 BB, 1 K
\nBryce Wilson <\/strong>6 2\/3 IP, 4 R (2 ER), 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K
\nShane Murphy <\/strong>4 2\/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 5 K
\nEvan McKendry <\/strong>4 IP, 3 R (0 ER), 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K<\/p>\n

The Knights stumbled to the finish line, dropping four out of six against Durham (85-64). Charlotte wraps up the season at 65-85, falling well short of the postseason and ending up just percentage points ahead of the Winston-Salem Dash to avoid the worst record in the system.<\/p>\n

Outfielder Dru Baker, 25, was an easy selection for Knight of the Week: 7-for-16 with two homers, four RBIs, a walk, and a stolen base in his only attempt. Baker has experience in all outfield positions, but he is in center field most often. In 77 games with the Knights, Baker slashed 256\/.318\/.368 (76 wRC+), but he finished strong. Baker came to the organization from the Rays in the trade for Matt Thaiss in May.<\/p>\n

2025 Charlotte Knights Players of the Week<\/strong>
\nTim Elko<\/strong> (April 7-13)
\nBobby Dalbec<\/strong> (April 14-20)
\nTim Elko <\/strong>(April 21-27)
\nTristan Gray <\/strong>(April 28-May 4)
\nJason Matthews <\/strong>(May 5-11)
\nAndre Lipcius<\/strong> (May 12-18)
\nKyle Teel<\/strong> (May 19-25)
\nJacob Amaya<\/strong> (May 26-June 1)
\nBrooks Baldwin<\/strong> (June 2-8)
\nBrooks Baldwin<\/strong> (June 9-15)
\nBrooks Baldwin<\/strong> (June 16-22)
\nColson Montgomery<\/strong> (June 23-29)
\nJacob Amaya<\/strong> (June 30-July 6)
\nAndre Lipcius<\/strong> (July 7-13)
\nYoendrys G\u00f3mez<\/strong> (July 18-27)
\nVinny Capra<\/strong> (July 28-August 3)
\nJacob Gonzalez<\/strong> (August 4-10)
\nTim Elko<\/strong> (August 11-17)
\nBlake Sabol<\/strong> (August 18-24)
\nDominic Fletcher<\/strong> (August 25-31)
\nCaden Connor<\/strong> (September 1-7)
\nShane Murphy<\/strong> (September 8-14)
\nDru Baker<\/strong> (September 15-21)<\/p>\n

Birmingham Barons<\/strong>
\nRecord<\/strong> 2-1 vs. Lookouts (won Division Series), 0-1 vs. Biscuits (best-of-3 Championship Series in progress), 43-26 (second half regular season), 81-57 (overall regular season)<\/p>\n

Barons Player of the Week<\/strong>
\nHagen Smith<\/strong> 5 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 10 K<\/p>\n

Rikuu Nishida<\/strong> .294\/.368\/.294, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 17 at-bats
\nSam Antonacci<\/strong> .313\/.389\/.313, 16 at-bats
\nWilliam Bergolla<\/strong> .500\/.444\/.500, 2-for-2 stolen bases, 16 at-bats
\nDJ Gladney<\/strong> .308\/.286\/.462, 13 at-bats
\nBraden Montgomery<\/strong> Did not play (will play in Arizona Fall League)<\/p>\n

Riley Gowens<\/strong> 3 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 5 H, 3 BB, 6 K
\nTyler Schweitzer <\/strong>2 1\/3 IP, 6 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 1 K
\nAdisyn Coffey<\/strong> 4 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 5 K
\nLucas Gordon<\/strong> 3 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K
\nTanner McDougal <\/strong>3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 5 K<\/p>\n

This week got off to a rough start, with the Barons blowing a 6-0 lead in Game 1 of their Division Series. However, Birmingham recovered to win the series and advance to the Championship. On Sunday, they dropped the opener to the Biscuits. However, they have shown that they can rally after losing the first game (they did so last week and a year ago, after all), and regardless, they have had a great season.<\/p>\n

Hagen Smith, 22, could have hardly been any better during his outing under the bright lights. Smith started on Thursday, which was Game 2 of the Division Series. The Lookouts struggled immensely against him, failing to get any hits during Smith\u2019s five innings of work. Contact was a major issue for the Lookouts, as Smith collected 10 strikeouts while only issuing two walks. The Barons proceeded to win that game by a score of 4-0, only allowing one hit. Bravo to Smith, who played an integral part in Birmingham\u2019s series victory. It is also worth mentioning that reliever Jake Palisch pitched three innings without allowing any hits, so the Barons took a combined no-hitter into the ninth. Tyler Davis allowed a double with one out, but he retired the other three batters he faced to close it out.<\/p>\n

Infielder William Bergolla, 20, was also on top of his game. Bergolla finished 8-for-16 with two stolen bases in as many attempts. Bergolla also collected four RBIs to lead the team, as he was very effective when the pressure was on.<\/p>\n

2025 Birmingham Barons Players of the Week<\/strong>
\nWilliam Bergolla<\/strong> (April 7-13)
\nTyler Schweitzer<\/strong> (April 14-20)
\nWilfred Veras<\/strong> (April 21-27)
\nCaden Connor<\/strong> (April 28-May 4)
\nRyan Galanie<\/strong> (May 5-11)
\nRiley Gowens<\/strong> (May 12-18)
\nJacob Gonzalez<\/strong> (May 19-25)
\nWilliam Bergolla<\/strong> (May 26-June 1)
\nJake Palisch<\/strong> (June 2-8)
\nShane Murphy<\/strong> (June 9-15)
\nLucas Gordon<\/strong> (June 16-22)
\nTanner McDougal<\/strong> (June 23-29)
\nTanner McDougal<\/strong> (June 30-July 6)
\nTanner McDougal<\/strong> (July 7-13)
\nSam Antonacci<\/strong> (July 18-27)
\nRyan Galanie<\/strong> (July 28-August 3)
\nCalvin Harris<\/strong> (August 4-10)
\nBraden Montgomery<\/strong> (August 11-17)
\nRiley Gowens<\/strong> (August 18-24)
\nWilfred Veras<\/strong> (August 25-31)
\nWilliam Bergolla<\/strong> (September 1-7)
\nDJ Gladney<\/strong> (September 8-14)
\nHagen Smith<\/strong> (September 15-21)<\/p>\n

0 Comments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Birmingham rallied to win the Division Series to advance to the Championship against the Biscuits<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":97026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nWhite Sox Minor League Player of the Week (Sept. 15-21, 2025): Dru Baker - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=97025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"White Sox Minor League Player of the Week (Sept. 15-21, 2025): Dru Baker - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Birmingham rallied to win the Division Series to advance to the Championship against the Biscuits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=97025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-22T22:29:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/avtvip-9-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=97025\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=97025\",\"name\":\"White Sox Minor League Player of the Week (Sept. 15-21, 2025): Dru Baker - 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