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A couple news items before we get to the postseason action:
*Jim Callis took a shot at ranking the top prospects at the end of the season ... for 2018. Good news! He has Luis Robert third. Bad news! The guy ranked fifth. Eloy Jimenez and Michael Kopech, both of whom are currently in the top 10, are expected to graduate from prospect status by the end of the season.
*Speaking of losing prospect status, Lucas Giolito no longer qualifies after his start today. Bernardo Flores took his place in MLB.com’s top 30 White Sox prospects list.
*Keith Law listed seven prospects from his top 100 who took a step backward in 2017, with Blake Rutherford the lone White Sox prospect among them.
Taken 18th overall in 2016 by the Yankees, Rutherford was widely seen as one of the best pure bats in the class, but with limited value on defense and some skepticism about his upside because he turned 19 before finishing high school.
Rutherford's swing hasn't changed, but it didn't produce much impact, with a .260/.326/.348 line around a late-July trade to the White Sox. Like Moniak, he's still young enough (20 now) to regain the lost status, but unlike Moniak, he doesn't have a position in the middle of the field to help him.
Some solace? Austin Meadows, Corey Ray and Mickey Moniak are also on this list, so Rutherford has some company among outfielders.
Greenville 2, Kannapolis 0
- Joel Booker went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Blake Rutherford, 0-for-4.
- Willy Garcia was 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Gavin Sheets, 0-for-3 with an HBP and a strikeout.
- Jake Burger was 1-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts.
- Alex Call went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Tyler Johnson: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
- Kannapolis now trails the series 2-0, and has to win all three games in Greenville to win the championship.