Even though the Chicago White Sox will be watching playoff baseball from their couches this season, the same cannot be said about the Double-A affiliate Birmingham Barons.
Coming off a championship run in 2024, the Barons finished with the best record in the Southern League at 81-57 and cruised to another playoff appearance in 2025.
The team’s success was largely led their pitching staff, as the Barons finished dead last in the Southern League in home runs, and 6th out of eight (8) teams in OPS.
Barons pitchers, on the other hand, put up a sparkling 2.99 team ERA, leading the league by a significant margin. Despite many top prospects and contributors from 2024 moving up, the Barons found a way to win ballgames, and they entered the playoffs hoping to stay hot.
Timely hitting propels Birimingham over Chattanooga
The first playoff stop for the Barons was a best-of-3 division series with the Chattanooga Lookouts, and found themselves on the brink of elimination early, dropping Game 1 by a score of 8-6.
Fortunately, the team battled back, and a dominant performance by 2024 first-round pick Hagen Smith got them a shutout victory in Game 2.
In a win-or-go-home game, the Barons bullpen and timely hits by William Bergolla and Sam Antonacci led the team to an 8-6 victory and earned them a trip to the championship for the second year in a row.
Barons take championship over Montgomery
The Barons hosted the Montgomery Biscuits for Game 1 of the championship series on Sunday, and once again found themselves on the brink of elimination after a 2-1 loss.
The team bounced back in a big way on Tuesday, going into Montgomery and taking the second game 7-3, setting up a final, winner-take-all game for the championship on Wednesday night.
Hagen Smith took the mound and the Barons scored early and often, giving Smith a 5-0 lead heading to the bottom of the fifth innings. Unfortunately, Smith lost the feel for his control in the 5th and allowed a pair of runs on a couple walks in the inning. The Barons held the lead at 5-2 when some rain came into the area, forcing the suspension of the championship game, which would be resumed on Thursday afternoon.
When the rain settled Thursday and the teams returned to play, the Barons turned to the bullpen to close the door. Caleb Freeman, Jake Palisch, and Adisyn Coffey each put up scoreless outings, and Sam Antonacci provided an insurance run as the Barons headed to the ninth innings with a 6-2 lead.
A late homer by Rays prospect Brayden Taylor wasn’t enough, and the Barons won by a score of 6-3 to claim the Southern League title for the second consecutive season.
The Birmingham #Barons are back 2 back Champions. Boom. pic.twitter.com/lwyoS7rAGq
— FutureSox (@FutureSox) September 25, 2025
Minor league success can translate to the big leagues
It’s not quite a World Series win, but the Barons' success in recent years is an exciting development for the White Sox as an organization.
For starters, it means there’s a good crop of young talent that’s coming. It’s also important for young players to get some experience in high pressure, meaningful situations. A lot of success in Major League Baseball is determined by how well players perform when it matters most, and learning how to win is a crucial skill.
It will be a little while before we fully see the organizational improvements blossom at the Major League level, but Chris Getz’s revamped player development system seems to be in full swing in the minor leagues.
With another good group of young players set to head to Birmingham next season, the Barons have great odds to make it three in a row.