Charlotte Knights
RHP Spencer Adams (@adamswc12) was sharp tonight in front of family & friends! #NextSox
— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) July 8, 2018
7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 SO
: @laurawolffphoto pic.twitter.com/kKs8xQPZOA
Seby Zavala: .304 BA, 1 R, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K
Michael Kopech: 3 IP, 8.64 FIP, 18.00 K/9, 12.00 BB/9
Jordan Stephens: 11 2⁄3 IP, 2.71 FIP, 6.17 K/9, 1.54 BB/9 ***MVP of the Week***
Carson Fulmer: 5 IP, 5.91 FIP, 5.40 K/9, 1.80 BB/9
Spencer Adams: 13 IP, 3.00 FIP, 5.54 K/9, 2.77 BB/9
Jordan Guerrero: 5 IP, 3.71 FIP, 3.60 K/9, 3.60 BB/9
Thyago Vieira: 3 IP, 5.31 FIP, 0.00 K/9, 6.00 BB/9
Ian Hamilton: 2 IP, 1.31 FIP, 9.00 K/9, 0.00 BB/9, 1 save
Spencer Adams is back on the prospect watch. Last week, Adams was able to lower his walks and increase his strikeouts, as he continues to show brilliant command. Including starts in Birmingham, Adams has thrown at least six innings his last nine starts. At the very least, Adams should be in the South Side next year, but as the innings eater he has become, a September call-up should be the next step. Now, even with his success in 2018, Adams is getting hit harder. His line-drive rate has gone up 7% between AA and AAA. His pull percentage has also ticked up to 41.8%, which would explain the increase in line drives. Adams also has been on the luckier side in Charlotte. His left-on-base percentage is usually near the low 70%, but in Charlotte it is up to 84.3%. That’s coupled with a BABIP at .242, which is uncharacteristically low. Adams has been good, but he still has aspects of his game that he needs to work on — in Charlotte, or Chicago.
Birmingham Barons
Congratulations to the two Barons that have been selected to represent the @whitesox in the @MLB All-Star #FuturesGame on July 15 at Nationals Park!!
— Birmingham Barons (@BhamBarons) July 6, 2018
OF Luis Alexander Basabe will play for the World Team and RHP @DylanCease will represent Team USA! #NextSox pic.twitter.com/KlZUkYnUqs
Joel Booker: .227 BA, 3 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 11 K
Luis Basabe: .192 BA, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 11 K, 2 SB
Alex Call: .176 BA, 2 BB, 7 K
Jameson Fisher: .200 BA, 0 BB, 3 K
Zack Collins .160 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 9 K
Alec Hansen: 10 IP, 5.03 FIP, 8.10 K/9, 6.30 BB/9
Jimmy Lambert: 3 IP, 11.78 FIP, 6.00 K/9, 3.00 BB/9
Dylan Cease: 5 IP, 1.64 FIP, 16.20 K/9, 5.40 BB/9
Bernardo Flores: 6 IP, 1.94 FIP, 9.00 K/9, 1.50 BB/9 ***MVP of the Week***
Matt Foster: 2 1⁄3 IP IP, 4.30 FIP, 7.71 K/9, 7.71 BB/9
Since Charle Tilson officially moved on from his prospect status, Bernardo Flores replaced him in MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 White Sox prospects — and for good reason. Flores has gone at least six innings in every start besides one, on April, 22. That start was also one of two times he has not had a quality start. In Winston-Salem and Birmingham, Flores is in the middle of an 11-game quality start streak, and is verging on 100 innings pitched with his next outing. Like Spencer Adams, Flores has benefited from a bit of luck, but Flores has shown much better command of the strike zone with a 2.08 BB/9 on the season, coupled with a 5.5% walk rate. The lefty does not have overpowering stuff or a wipe-out breaking ball, but he dots the corners and works through any trouble on the basepaths with a left-on-base percentage in the mid-70%. He has drastically reduced his fly ball rate (mid-20%) and is becoming more of a ground ball pitcher (mid-50%). If the trend continues, Flores will continue to shoot up prospect boards.
Winston-Salem Dash
+ The Pride of Columbia, Mississippi
— Winston-Salem Dash (@WSDashBaseball) July 7, 2018
+ A star on our first-half title team
+ A .455 hitter over his last 10 games
Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only @TiquanF.
: @HypeTheEngineer pic.twitter.com/aVmSsA8qJv
Luis Gonzalez: .143 BA, 1 HR, 2 R, 6 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K
Laz Rivera: .333 BA, 2 HR, 5 R, 6 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 SB
Micker Adolfo: .267 BA, 1 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K
Gavin Sheets: .261 BA, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K
Ti’Quan Forbes: .417 BA, 1 HR, 5 R, 5 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
Blake Rutherford: .538 BA, 4 R, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 SB ***MVP of the Week***
John Parke: 11 IP, 4.03 FIP, 5.73 K/9, 4.09 BB/9,
Blake Battenfield: 3 IP, 10.73 FIP, 15.00 K/9, 6.00 BB/9
Tyler Johnson: 2 1⁄3 IP, 1.68 FIP, 7.71 K/9, 0.00 BB/9
Lincoln Henzman: 2 IP, 3.40 FIP, 0.00 K/9, 9.00 BB/9
Ti’Quan Forbes was a second round pick in 2014, but hasn’t proven he deserved that status — until now. Forbes was reduced to somewhat of a lottery prospect when the Sox acquired him for Miguel Gonzalez last season. Forbes started off slow, but the past month he has been on fire and looking like a second round pick. Since the All-Star break, Forbes is slashing .375/.400/.571 with a wRC+ at 171. What is even better about this hot streak is his BABIP on the year is only .330, right where his average is. Now, Forbes does not walk at all, but his strikeouts have drastically fallen, to a career low at 14.8%. Forbes is also using more of the diamond than ever before. He is only pulling the ball 36% of the time, 27% the ball is going into center, and 36% of the time he is going to the opposite field. Is this the case of a hitter becoming more mature, or a one-off? He won’t continue a 171 wRC+ hot streak, but if he ends the season around his .292 batting average, then Forbes may have just broken out as a prospect.
Kannapolis Intimidators
. @luisc1123 pic.twitter.com/a5RanqJdCR
— Kannapolis Intimidators (@Intimidators) July 8, 2018
Craig Dedelow: .182 BA, 1 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K
Evan Skoug: .111 BA, 1 R, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K
Tate Blackman: .045 BA, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K
Luis Curbelo: .320 BA, 4 R, 6 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K ***MVP of the Week***
Justin Yurchak: .357 BA, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K
Andrew Perez: 4 IP, 3.46 FIP, 6.75 K/9, 2.25 BB/9 — promoted from Great Falls
The eighth round pick of this year’s MLB draft, Andrew Perez, has had a terrific start to his professional career and is already in Kannapolis. He was a closer out of South Florida, with a mid-90s fastball, and his success in college has continued with the Sox. So far Perez has not been used as a closer, but he has been used often in the bullpen. In his 10 1⁄3 innings as a professional, he has a K/9 at 8.71 and BB/9 at 0.87 — now that is what a bullpen arm should do! His batting average against is at .139, and Perez owns an astronomically low WHIP, at 0.58. He was the first promotion from the 2018 draft, and he definitely deserved it.
Great Falls Voyagers
Great hike this morning with the @gfvoyagers! #jointhevoyage pic.twitter.com/2rCGNgufYI
— Bennett Sousa (@BennettSousa) July 8, 2018
Lenyn Sosa: .259 BA, 1 HR, 4 R, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K
Logan Sowers: .429 BA, 1 HR, 4 R, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K
Gunnar Troutwine: .231 BA, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Romy Gonzalez: .250 BA, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K
Ramon Beltre: .458 BA, 2 R, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K ***MVP of the Week***
Bennett Sousa: 4 IP, 1.56 FIP, 11.25 K/9, 0.00 BB/9, 1 save
Jason Bilous: 3 IP, 3.24 FIP, 12.00 K/9, 6.00 BB/9
Jonathan Stiever: 2 IP, 3.07 FIP, 4.50 K/9, 0.00 BB/9
Codi Heuer: 5 1⁄3 IP, 1.82 FIP, 10.13 K/9, 0.00 BB/9
AZL White Sox
HBP. Picked off at 1st #NickMadrigal #WhiteSox #AZL pic.twitter.com/VG7U93o4vT
— Lauran (@Lauran001) July 6, 2018
Camilo Quinteiro: .381 BA, 5 R, 2 RBI, 7 BB, 5 K, 2 SB
Luis Mieses: .348 BA, 2 R, 8 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K
Cabera Weaver: .211 BA, 3 R, 2 BB, 7 K, 1 SB
Kleyder Sanchez: .143 BA, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Ty Greene: .235 BA, 2 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K
Lency Delgado: .308 BA, 4 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K, 2 SB
Anderson Comas: .400 BA, 3 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K, 2 SB ***MVP of the Week***
Nelson Acosta: 2 IP, 5.86 FIP, 0.00 K/9, 4.50 BB/9
Brayan Herrera: 5 IP, 2.80 FIP, 7.20 K/9, 0.00 BB/9
Hector Acosta: 1⁄3 IP, 13.36 FIP, 0.00 K/9, 27.00 BB/9
Hunter Kiel: 2 IP, 4.86 FIP, 18.00 K/9, 13.50 BB/9
Ian Clarkin: 4 2⁄3 IP, 4.83 FIP, 13.50 K/9, 1.93 BB/9
DSL White Sox
Jefferson Mendoza: .200 BA, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
Jose Rodriguez: .313 BA, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K ***MVP of the Week***
Francisco Benitez: 7 2⁄3 IP, 6.19 FIP, 5.87 K/9, 9.39 BB/9
Luis Rodriguez: 4 IP, 3.08 FIP, 9.00 K/9, 4.50 BB/9