This Week in White Sox Minor League Baseball

This week:

• The material for TWIWSMiLB is becoming more threadbare.  September call-ups have taken the likes of Daniel Hudson, Tyler Flowers and Carlos Torres.  Minor league rehab assignments appear to be over for the season.  And, just to further deplete things, Jared Mitchell and Christian Marrero hit the DL.
• The minor league playoffs begin next week.  Great Falls begin on the 12th against a TBD opponent.  Kannapolis start against Lakewood on the 9th.  Winston-Salem also go on the 9th against a TBD opponent.  Birmingham open on the 10th against Jacksonville.
• Bristol completed their season and sent a good bit of their roster to Charlotte to replace call-ups and players competing in the World Cup.  The results for most of these Rookie-leaguers has been predictable, including permitting Rays' top prospect Desmond Jennings to go 7-7.  It does, however, provide a few more games for these guys so that's helpful.  Two notables are Brady Shoemaker and Miguel Gonzalez.  Shoemaker was named an Appalachian League surprise by Baseball America.  As noted, this list is for guys who are old for the league but, nevertheless, deserve attention for putting up excellent numbers. The right-handed outfielder had a .351/.426/.585 line and hit a home run for Charlotte last night.  Gonzalez, on the other hand, is a legitimate prospect.  The catcher has been a favorite of mine since he put up good numbers in the Dominican Summer League last year and, at 18 years old, is very age approporiate for the Appy League.  The Venezuelan hit .311/.385/.503 this season and, while he's described as having "a bit of a thick body", he's definitely one to watch.  Expect to see him continue his season in the Venezuelan Winter League (VWL).
• One Bristol player who didn't make the jump to AAA is 2009 second round pick Trayce Thompson who, instead, is getting a preview of his likely destination next season, Great Falls.  His adjustment to pro ball has been difficult but, as a very raw high schooler, that isn't unexpected.
• Brent Morel: .278/.333/.445.
• When Clevelan Santeliz was added to the 40-man roster last year in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, I scratched my head.  While he had good stuff, he had little control and his stint in the VWL hadn't been impressive, either.  However, Santeliz has made good on the White Sox' confidence by improving his control markedly as this season wore on.  In the first half, he walked 27 in 35 innings. So far in the second half, he's walked 8 in 20 innings while also improving his K rate.  Assuming this isn't just a small sample size aberration, he's certainly put himself into the mix for a bullpen role for sometime next season.
• Birmingham Roundup: Jordan Danks: .250/.344/.366; Dayan Viciedo: .280/.318/.393; C.J. Retherford: .302/.345/.476; Christian Marrero: .301/.340/.520; John Shelby: .243/.320/.395; John Ely: 150.1 IP, 137 H, 48 BB, 118 K, 1.44 GO/AO; Charlie Shirek: 90.1 IP, 97 H, 17 BB, 32 K, 1.43 GO/AO; Henry Mabee: 28.2 IP, 20 H, 10 BB, 21 K, 1.65 GO/AO.
• Josh Phegley: .233/.288/.423.

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