clock menu more-arrow no yes

Filed under:

This Week In White Sox Minor League Baseball

New, comments
By larry
/ new
SS Marcus Semien, 6th round pick
SS Marcus Semien, 6th round pick

This week:

  • The big event, of course, was the amateur draft.  The White Sox selections generally followed two themes: pitching and college players.  Nine of their first twelve picks were pitchers and they did not select a high schooler until their 29th pick.  The first theme is sensible.  While there are a number of interesting arms in the organization, there is no pitcher that would be considered a consensus top prospect for the club.  Adding some volume will hopefully result in one of these guys becoming that top prospect.  The second theme is a bit more curious.  While the club has certainly had a bias towards college players with their top pick under Kenny Williams - RHP Kris Honel a decade ago being the last prep player chosen that high - waiting until day two of the draft was almost over to take a high schooler is extraordinarily odd.  Check out Jim's coverage of top pick OF Keenyn Walker here, as well as the team's selections from day two of the draft here.  Future Sox has a blurb on all the players selected here.  And John Sickels reviewed the White Sox draft here.
  • Draft picks have already begun to sign and they, along with guys who have been in extended spring training, will begin reporting to the White Sox Rookie Ball affiliates next week.  The Great Fall Voyagers begin play on June 20 and the Bristol Sox get started on June 21.
  • RHP Jacob Petricka's return from an injured back is taking a bit longer than expected.  Apparently he'll be joining some of those draft picks at Bristol for a rehab start or two before going back to Kannapolis.
  • OF Trayce Thompson: .228/.314/.433.  His numbers after 58 games are almost exactly the same as they were in the 58 games he played in last season.
  • For those of you who didn't get the opportunity to see the Jake Peavy Rehab Experience during his prior half dozen tours - probably because you just assumed he'd be back on the road again shortly - you'll have yet another chance.  Peavy will be making a rehab start for Charlotte next week against Syracuse.  He's supposedly getting 8 hours of treatment a day.
  • C Miguel Gonzalez joined Kannapolis from extended spring training.  Gonzalez was everybody's favorite sleeper prospect after putting up stellar offensive numbers in 2009 for Bristol as an 18 year old - .311/.385/.503.  He also impressed with a cannon arm, though his receiving skills still needed work.  His full season debut for Kannapolis, however, was awful.  While he took his defense with him - cutting down 50% of basestealers and continuing his improvement behind the plate - his offense fell off a cliff: .218/.260/.276.  After Mike Blanke's surprising performance for Great Falls, the White Sox were left with the choice of having the two share the catching for the Intimidators to start 2011 (not good for either player) or holding back the struggling youngster in extended spring training to let the older player get the repetitions he needed before his promotion to Winston-Salem.  Things worked about as planned, with Blanke performing well behind the plate (32% CS and, according to reports and the numbers, exhibiting good receiving skills) and competently enough in the batter's box (.259/.311/.382) for the White Sox to be comfortable in sending him to the Dash.  Gonzalez has come out of the gate strong: .368/.455/.526 in 22 PA and throwing out 5 of 9 attempted thieves.  I've said it many times and I'll say it again: player development is rarely a straight line.  Gonzalez is far more talented than he showed in 2010 and I fully expect to see him back on track.
  • Dayan Viciedo: .309/.356/.515.

    • More From South Side Sox

    Loading comments...