This week:

• RHP Jake Petricka left his start on Friday after just four pitches when he took a line drive off his right elbow. There's no official word on the injury but Petricka tweeted yesterday that it felt like he'd thrown 200 pitches, not 4. It's probably safe to assume that he'll head to the 7-day DL and miss a start or two. For the season: 9 GS, 41 IP, 40 H, 24 BB, 41 K, 6 WP.
  
• In other Winston-Salem injury news, SS Marcus Semien, who had been riding an 18 game hitting streak, was finally put on the disabled list. He hadn't played since May 12 due to a right shoulder injury. For the season: 280/.343/.480.
• Jared Mitchell: .288/.408/.485. 15% walk rate, 26.5% strikeout rate.
  
• RHP Jeff Soptic joined Kannapolis from extended spring training. The White Sox have brought him along slowly after drafting him in the third round last year. The tall righty with a power arm pitched just 2.2 innings in three games for Bristol last season. He'll likely see time in the Intimidators' bullpen as he tries to sharpen his erratic control.
• The MLB Draft is coming up on June 4-6. The White Sox have the 13th pick overall. Per the new rules put in place by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, they'll have $5,915,100 to spread over their 11 picks in the first 10 rounds of the draft. This year's draft is generally considered to be a weak talent pool. If you're interested in some of the names in the mix as top picks, there's plenty of coverage out there and mlb.com has a decent enough Top 100 List with some scouting information.

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This week:

• Jesse Crain began his two game rehab assignment with Charlotte on Friday, apparently without any issues. Assuming he has no issues with his final scheduled appearance on Sunday, he'll be back with the White Sox on Monday. With Chris Sale back in the rotation, it's a good bet that Eric Stults is the one who will give way.
• OF Jared Mitchell got quite a bit of press in the last week or so. Whenever you see a non-top prospect getting that much hype - and there aren't any top prospects in the White Sox organization - it's a near-certainty that his hot streak has peaked and reality is setting back in. His strikeout rate is back above 25% and is rising. This month, he's sporting a cold .139/.205/.250 and in those ten games he's struck out twice eight times.
  
• One scout on Mitchell: "I think he’ll be a 26-year-old (big league) rookie who has some power. I don’t think he’s a speed guy. I think he’s a power guy who’s a little bit above-average runner. Everyone is thinking Kenny Lofton, but that’s not him. It’s not even close. That’s where the disappointment lies. I think he’s a power guy who runs fairly well. I’ve seen him scorch balls for home runs. It’s three or four years away from it clicking, though."
• OF Trayce Thompson:.218/.314/.420.

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White Sox prospects RHP Jake Petricka and RHP Nestor Molina both received promotions this morning. Petricka goes from High-A Winston-Salem to Double-A Birmingham. Molina goes from Birmingham to Triple-A Charlotte.

Petricka, a 2010 second round pick, did not exactly impress with his results this season for the Dash. In five starts, he was 2-3 with a 5.62 ERA and his peripherals didn't tell a much different story: 24 IP, 27 H, 12 BB, 24 K. Between this season and last season, his overall numbers at Winston-Salem are 18 GS, 91.2 IP, 98 H, 38 BB, 70 K. Baseball America ranked Petricka as the fourth best White Sox prospect this past offseason.

Molina, acquired from the Blue Jays in the Sergio Santos deal, had good numbers overall for Birmingham but did give up a lot of hits: 6 GS, 36.1 IP, 45 H, 5 BB and 25 K. His first couple starts of the season were shaky but his next four were much better. Baseball America ranked Molina as the second best White Sox prospect.

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This week:

• RHP Miles Jaye joined Kannapolis from extended spring training and was excellent in his first start: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HBP. Jaye is the primary piece from the Jason Frasor trade. Like with many pitchers at his level, the 20 year old has a good fastball (low to mid 90s) but his secondary pitches - power slider and changeup - are works in progress. Unlike many pitchers at his level, Jaye has good control of his repertoire. I don't think Low-A hitters are going to be able to challenge Jaye but the primary goal for him right now is to get innings. He may see Winston-Salem later on in the season, where he should find the hitters to be less accommodating.
• 3B Juan Silverio made his season debut for Winston-Salem on Friday, after remaining in extended spring training to rehab an injury to his right arm. Silverio showed some nice offense last season - .285/.335/.453 between Kannapolis and Winston-Salem - but he really needs to move to the outfield. The 21 year old has wasted no time in getting his errors on track to match his previously prodigious totals (39 last season): he's committed three errors at third base in his two games back. Silverio's frame is filling out so he could develop the power expected from a corner outfield spot.

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This week:

• The big story was the 50 game suspension for RHP Andre Rienzo following his positive drug test for the steroid stanozolol. In what I'm sure is just an amazing coincidence, Rienzo dropped his appeal and began serving the suspension in time for the suspension to end at exactly the same time extended spring training ends. The 23 year old Brazilian thus will be back with the Dash in mid-June after his vacation in Arizona. In a not unusual explanation, Rienzo blamed the positive test on a tainted supplement he purchased in Brazil during the offseason. As discussed last week, Rienzo was pitching well for Winston-Salem: 4 GS, 25 IP, 17 H, 7 BB and a Carolina League-leading 31 strikeouts.
• As far as I know, this is the first suspension of a White Sox minor leaguer for the use of a banned performance-enhancing substance. Part of the reason for this is that the White Sox have fewer foreign players than most organizations. While I won't opine on the intent of Rienzo's ingestion of this PED, tainted substances are a real problem overseas in countries which do not have the equivalent of the U.S. FDA. Players are routinely and repeatedly warned about the risk associated with ingesting supplements that are not certified by NSF International. If a positive test is somehow caused by one of the certified supplements, if substantiated, it is considered a legitimate defense and an exception to the strict liability standard.

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Chicago White Sox right-handed pitching prospect Andre Rienzo has tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol, a banned performance-enhancing substance, and will now serve a 50 game ban. Stanozolol is a powerful synthetic steroid and is the same substance Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for in 2005.

Rienzo is currently on the roster of the Winston-Salem Dash, a High-A affiliate. The 23 year old was signed as an 18 year old out of Sao Paulo, Brazil. He had been pitching very well for the Dash in his second season in the Carolina League. In four starts, he had pitched 25 innings giving up just 17 hits and 7 walks while striking out a league leading 31 batters. His ERA of 1.08 was third best in the league.

Rienzo largely relied on a very good fastball but his secondary pitches are still works in progress. Baseball Prospects ranked him the 11th best prospect in the organization and Baseball America ranked him the 17th best prospect.

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This week:

• RHP Nestor Molina won't be replicating his ridiculously superb 2011 season. He's still a miser with the walks - just 2 in 23.2 IP. But he's not missing quite as many bats - 16 K - which has resulted in more hits. And he's not going to get away with 10+ H/9. We got a lengthy scouting report on one of Molina's start right here at SSS. Another point of view from The Anonymous Scout: "He shows good movement on a 91-93 mph fastball and pretty good feel for three secondary pitches in a curveball, change, and splitter, but I just don’t like his slider," explained a National League scout. "He shows flashes, but still just flashes, including pitchability, but he tries to get too cute at times as well. But he still really needs to learn how to use all of his stuff, and I would be surprised to see him have success in a major-league rotation in 2012." Well, only the insane thought he should be in the rotation this year.
  
• OF Jared Mitchell has repaid our skepticism about his aggressive assignment to Birmingham by continuing his hot hitting from spring training. He's batting a stellar .300/.417/.533. Of course, as you might expect, that's fueled by a BABIP of well above .400. While Mitchell is the type to have an above average BABIP, it won't be that above average. He also hasn't addressed the strikeout issue, as noted by director of player development Nick Capra. But, after the last couple years, we'll take any signs of prospect life.

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This week:

• With the games just getting started, there isn't much of substance to report. One thing that is at least interesting is that Osvaldo Martinez continued his poor performance from spring training into the regular season. Martinez probably was the favorite to win the utility infielder role. Then he put up a .000/.091/.000 line in 11 plate appearances, watched Eduardo Escobar hit like a superstar and quickly found himself re-assigned to minor league camp. Martinez was 0 for 20 with 1 BB and 1 HBP - and thus matching his .000/.091/.000 spring line - going into last night's game between Charlotte and Norfolk. He got off the schneid in his first plate appearance with a bunt single. He's a very BABIP dependent hitter. In 2008 and 2010 he put up BABIPs just above .330 and had fine seasons. In 2009 and 2011, he put up BABIPs right around .285 and had poor seasons. If he keeps to form, I guess this should be a decent season for him.
• People love sleeper prospects and I'm going to continue pushing SS/2B Carlos Sanchez. The 19 year old is the third youngest player in the Carolina League. While he's similar to his Venezuelan compatriot Escobar in many ways, he separates himself offensively in an important category: plate discipline. He does a very good job of controlling the strike zone and taking walks, particularly for a guy without much power. Because he's not nearly the defender Escobar is - which is certainly not an insult considering how good Escobar is - he'll need to continue to be at least acceptable offensively if he hopes to be a major league player. I am very interested to see how he adapts to a challenging level for a player of his age. So far, so good: .280/.455/.360.

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