White Sox Minor League Update: May 16, 2017

Alec Hansen might be too much for Sally League hitters to handle, but when reading the profiles of him by Colleen Kane and FutureSox, it’s easy to understand if the Sox take a slow-track approach.

Among the things he’s working on: 1) Throwing strikes with refined mechanics, 2) maintaining effectiveness deeper into games, 3) improving his changeup and 4) slowing down the running game. The way Hansen described it to FutureSox resembles a compartmentalizing approach:

It’s not something we just blow off of course. I see that guys are stealing on me all the time. But right now, mostly, it’s just trying to tackle one thing at a time. I’m trying to get all my pitches down, throw a lot of strikes. Just focus on myself right now, and attacking hitters rather than the running game. Once I’ve completed those things that I'm working on right now, then I’ll focus more on the running game.

If you had to rank his progress, the order might be 1-3-2-4 based on the reports about his offspeed pitch. But he made some progress with in-game endurance on Tuesday by pitching 6²⁄₃ shutout innings after running into middle-inning issues in previous starts. He only allowed one stolen base, perhaps because he only allowed six baserunners. Pitching from the stretch as little as possible might be the best way to solve that issue for now.

Top prospects at a glance

• Reynaldo Lopez: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K.
• Spencer Adams: 5.2 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
• Luis Alexander Basabe: 0-for-5, 3 K
• Zack Collins, 1-for-4, HR, BB, K
• Alec Hansen: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K

Charlotte 5, Durham 3

• Jacob May singled twice, bunted once, struck out once and was caught stealing.
• Nicky Delmonico went 2-for-3 with a walk.
• Danny Hayes wore the collar and silver sombrero.
• Adam Engel went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Reynaldo Lopez: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 56 of 93 pitches for strikes.

Chattanooga 4, Birmingham 1

• Eddy Alvarez was 1-for-3 with a double, walk and strikeout.
• Jake Peter was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
• Nick Basto walked once and struck out thrice.
• Trey Michalczewski was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• Spencer Adams: 5.2 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR

Lynchburg 8, Winston-Salem 6 (10 innings)

• Luis Alexander Basabe went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.
• Zack Collins went 1-for-4 with a homer, walk and strikeout. He was also caught stealing.
• Johan Cruz went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Kannapolis 5, Rome 1

• Joel Booker went 1-for-5 with a strikeout.
• Micker Adolfo’s hitting streak ended at 16 games after an 0-for-5, four-strikeout day.
• Alec Hansen: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, 65 of 94 pitches for strikes.