Mason Adams shines again, leads Charlotte past Buffalo 4-0

Mason Adams kept turning his post-Tommy John climb into something more immediate for the Chicago White Sox, dealing five scoreless innings in Charlotte’s 4-0 win over the Buffalo Bisons on June 18 at Sahlen Field. The 26-year-old right-hander allowed three hits and one walk, struck out six and earned his first win with the Knights as Charlotte took a 2-1 lead in the series despite 24 mph winds and some rain.

The outing came with the kind of run support and bullpen backing that can turn a good start into a meaningful one. Dustin Harris opened the game with a two-run homer in the first inning, giving Adams an early cushion, and the Knights never gave Buffalo a way back in. Jordan Hicks, in MLB rehab work, followed with a perfect inning and two strikeouts, and Jairo Iriarte finished the shutout work as Charlotte held on to the 4-0 final.

For Adams, the start mattered because it added a second straight strong showing to a season built around proving his arm can hold up again. He missed the 2025 season after suffering a flexor tendon injury in spring training and then undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2025, and Major League Baseball had projected a return to game action around midseason in 2026. Instead of merely rejoining the rotation, Adams has started to look like a pitcher who can stay in it, with sharper results and better command showing up in Triple-A.

That matters directly for the White Sox, who have been leaning on upper-level pitching depth in Charlotte while multiple arms cycle through the system. MLB Pipeline now lists Adams as Chicago’s No. 11 prospect, and his current Triple-A line underscores why his recent stretch has carried extra weight: 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA, 28 strikeouts and a 1.04 WHIP across 27 innings. The combination of five efficient innings in difficult weather and another scoreless turn before that suggests more than rehab progress. It points to durability returning to the profile.

Adams’ path adds to the appeal. He signed with the White Sox for $75,000 as a 13th-round senior sign in 2022 after leading the Atlantic Sun Conference with 108 strikeouts in 90 innings at Jacksonville. MLB Pipeline describes him as a pitcher with a fastball, curveball, slider and changeup mix, along with above-average control, and those traits are starting to show up again against upper-level hitters. If the strike throwing keeps holding in Charlotte, Adams is moving from recovery story to a name the White Sox may have to consider sooner rather than later.