Former Ole Miss slugger Tim Elko leads the minors in home runs, could join White Sox at 'some point'

Everyone in Oxford knows what ‘The Captain’ Tim Elko can do with a bat in his hands. He helped guide Ole Miss to the program’s first National Championship three years ago and has carried that momentum into his professional career.

For nearly three years Elko has been one of the best power hitters in the minor leagues and the Chicago White Sox organization is finally having to take notice. Mostly because Elko is forcing their hand.

Through 25 games with AAA club the Charlotte Knights Elko is tied atop all of Minor League Baseball in home runs with nine and has a batting average of .367 which is third-best among all MiLB hitters. As of April 29 eight of those home runs had come in a 10-game stretch.

White Sox general manager Chris Getz is starting to get the inevitable questions of when Elko might come up and if a swap at first base is coming.

“He’s hitting the ball very hard, actually harder than – he’s always hit the ball hard, he’s actually increased how hard he’s hitting it,” Getz said before Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

“And most importantly, how often he’s doing it. He’s certainly leading the organization in home runs, and I think he’s at the top in minor league baseball. Tim’s a special guy, has got tremendous leadership qualities. He impacts others beyond just himself. He was a pretty good defender at first base. He’s putting together all-around quality at-bats. So, we’re really happy with the development of Tim, and know at some point he could join us here in Chicago”

The 26-year-old Elko also leads qualified Triple-A hitters in slugging percentage (.732), OPS (1.163), isolated power (.378) and wRC+ (197) through 95 plate appearances.

With current White Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn off to a slow start over a month into the season the calls by fans are getting louder for the organization to make a move and call Elko up to The Show. Vaughn is hitting .157 with three home runs early into his fifth season in the MLB.

Getz is cautious about making a swap, though, and expecting Elko to be manning first base in Chicago anytime soon might not be such an automatic development.

“We’re more focused on supporting Andrew right now,” Getz said. “He’s been one of the more unlucky hitters in baseball. I know he wants greater results for the White Sox and for himself, and we expect more out of him. I know he’s working very hard. And our job is to get the most out of each player and we know that there’s more on the tank for Andrew. But we also know there are players throughout the organization that at some point could step up and get that opportunity. And you want to make sure that they’re well-positioned to do so.”

Ole Miss did see one former player make their MLB debut last weekend.

Doug Nikhazy was called up by the Cleveland Guardians and first appearance ended up being his first career MLB start. The Guardians series with the Red Sox saw Friday’s game postponed and Saturday became a doubleheader slate.

The former Ole Miss ace was called up to be a bullpen piece but due to the schedule change he got the start in the night cap of the doubleheader. He was off to a strong start with his first career MLB strikeout occurring against the first batter he faced, but then the outing took a rough turn.

He worked three innings, allowing six runs off five hits and walked six Red Sox batters and picked up the loss. Moving forward Nikhazy should be a relief role but he has not had another appearance since Saturday.