Charlotte Knights
Congrats to @ThyagoVieira40, who will represent the #CLTKnights at tonight's @TripleABaseball All-Star Game. Good luck, Thyago! pic.twitter.com/bJOsP5BlBi
— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) July 11, 2018
Seby Zavala: .333 BA, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Nick Delmonico: .389 BA, 2 R, 4 BB, 4 K
Michael Kopech: 6 IP, 0.16 FIP, 16.50 K/9, 1.50 BB/9 ***MVP of the Week***
Jordan Stephens: 5 IP, 2.32 FIP, 12.60 K/9, 5.40 BB/9
Carson Fulmer: 5 IP, 5.91 FIP, 5.40 K/9, 1.80 BB/9
Spencer Adams: 4 IP, 7.57 FIP, 2.25 K/9, 4.50 BB/9
Jordan Guerrero: 6 2⁄3 IP, 1.67 FIP, 9.45 K/9, 1.35 BB/9
Thyago Vieira: 1 IP, 1.32 FIP, 9.00 K/9, 0.00 BB/9, 1 save
Ian Hamilton: 2 IP, 3.82 FIP, 4.50 K/9, 4.50 BB/9, 1 save
Michael Kopech is back on the good side of White Sox fans after his brilliant performance last week. He is now up to 122 strikeouts in 88 1⁄3 innings pitched. Kopech has started to look better in three of his past four starts. He has three quality starts, featuring FIPs of 0.16, 3.16, and 1.32. Walks were a problem in two of the last four starts, but that is actually an improvement. When Kopech is not walking people, hitters only have a .204 batting average against him, so it is truly Kopech’s command that is keeping him back. In 2018, the right-handed Kopech has actually done worse against righties in terms of ERA, with a 3.52 ERA against lefties and 5.22 against righties. That’s because he has given up better contact against righties. In truth, righties are batting less than .200 against Kopech, but they have five home runs. It is only recently, as Kopech has been promoted to Triple-A, where he has done better against lefties than righties. Whatever the reason for that is, Kopech is back on track, but some negatives still outweigh his positives.
Birmingham Barons
In the past 11 years, only two @MLB homers have been hit off of pitches faster than the 102.3 MPH Hunter Greene heater that #WhiteSox OF Luis Basabe hit out:
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 15, 2018
Rafael Devers 102.8 (2017)
Kurt Suzuki 102.6 (2016)
Both off Aroldis Chapman
More: https://t.co/l8IrvFDfOB pic.twitter.com/A3O811Irfs
Joel Booker: .258 BA, 1 HR, 5 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 8 K, 2 SB
Luis Basabe: .333 BA, 1 HR, 6 R, 3 RBI, 5 BB, 6 K, 2 SB
Alex Call: .286 BA, 5 R, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 12 K
Zack Collins .200 BA, 4 R, 2 RBI, 7 BB, 7 K
Alec Hansen: 3 IP, 5.76 FIP, 3.00 K/9, 9.00 BB/9
Jimmy Lambert: 14 IP, 1.14 FIP, 12.21 K/9, 1.29 BB/9 ***MVP of the Week***
Bernardo Flores: 11 1⁄3 IP, 3.98 FIP, 6.35 K/9, 1.59 BB/9
Matt Foster: 3 2⁄3 IP IP, 2.33 FIP, 12.27 K/9, 4.91 BB/9
Though Luis Basabe and Dylan Cease represented Birmingham in the Futures Game, Jimmy Lambert was the most successful Baron of the week. Usually, pitchers are worse as they are promoted, but in Lambert’s case, he has improved. His K/9 is up to 10.96 and his BB/9 are down to 2.35. His FIP has also ticked down to 2.90 because of a 77.6% left-on-base percentage. However, something peculiar is happening with Lambert. Opposing batters are going to the opposite field (37.7%) more than they are pulling the ball (36.1%). That would indicate very weak contact, but Lambert’s line drive percentage is up to 28.3%. The only conclusion is that most of those line drives are being hit weakly hit to the opposite fields, because every other indication is that Lambert is inducing weak contact. His fly ball percentage has also fallen 8%, to 33.3%. Lambert is on the older side, (24 by season’s end) but is a prospect to keep an eye on.
Winston-Salem Dash
This team just continues to excite.
— Winston-Salem Dash (@WSDashBaseball) July 14, 2018
Down three runs in the ninth, Winston-Salem rallied to earn a walk-off win over Buies Creek.
Here were the highlights.. pic.twitter.com/pF0lSJqRb2
Luis Gonzalez: .300 BA, 7 R, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 8 K, 1 SB
Laz Rivera: .185 BA, 3 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 SB
Gavin Sheets: .375 BA, 5 R, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K ***MVP of the Week***
Ti’Quan Forbes: .214 BA, 2 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K
Blake Rutherford: .321 BA, 4 R, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
John Parke: 7 IP, 3.98 FIP, 5.14 K/9, 5.14 BB/9,
Blake Battenfield: 12 IP, 6.98 FIP, 10.50 K/9, 1.50 BB/9
Tyler Johnson: 4 IP, 0.66 FIP, 15.75 K/9, 2.25 BB/9
Lincoln Henzman: 3 IP, 8.41 FIP, 6.00 K/9, 6.00 BB/9
Gavin Sheets is having a phenomenal year down in Winston-Salem, but it’s not a year that White Sox fans expected. Grading at a 70 for raw power, Sheets should have a higher slugging percentage than .415, and more than four home runs. However, he is 11th in the league in batting average and tied for seventh in doubles, so he is not lacking production. Since Winston-Salem’s All-Star break, Sheets is slashing .375/.410/.531 but still without the huge power, though he does have 11 extra-base hits. Sheets still has an extremely low fly ball rate, at 30.5%, so it seems he is not getting under the ball enough. His line drive rate is up to 23.3%, and both those numbers show why Sheets has only four homers but 19 doubles. If you watched the Futures Game, minor league hitters hitting the livelier major league ball is like night and day. The big league ball should benefit Sheets, once he is in the majors.
Kannapolis Intimidators
Another W! Intimidators win the series opener against Hagerstown! pic.twitter.com/pbbIYZr65i
— Kannapolis Intimidators (@Intimidators) July 15, 2018
Craig Dedelow: .150 BA, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K
Evan Skoug: .000 BA, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K
Tate Blackman: .300 BA, 2 HR. 4 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K ***MVP of the Week***
Luis Curbelo: .143 BA, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 8 K
Justin Yurchak: .267 BA, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Andrew Perez: 3 IP, 1.80 FIP, 12.00 K/9, 3.00 BB/9, 1 Save
Tate Blackman had fallen out of favor since the All-Star break, but he had a slump-breaking week at the plate. Even with his fast fall, Blackman still owns a 122 wRC+ on the year, with 11 homers. The best aspect of Blackman’s game as a hitter is that even with his power, he is not a pull hitter, with 30.1% of his batted balls going to center and 29.6% to the opposite field. Strikeouts have become a problem for Blackman, maybe because he is looking to drive the ball of the ballpark. His K-rate has risen from 19.8% to 29.2% this year, along with an almost 2% drop in walk rate. Unfortunately for Blackman, it does not seem the White Sox organization is high on him. He was passed up for a promotion, and will turn 24 in September.
Great Falls Voyagers
THREE HOMERS!
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 14, 2018
After leaving the yard two times on Tuesday, #WhiteSox prospect Corey Zangari collects three home runs for @gfvoyagers. BOX: https://t.co/2gNvY6Owr2 pic.twitter.com/zNxs1w2EDx
Lenyn Sosa: .190 BA, 1 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K
Logan Sowers: .227 BA, 1 HR, 5 R, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K
Corey Zangari: .421 BA, 5 HR, 6 R, 13 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K **MVP of the Week***
Gunnar Troutwine: .111 BA, 1 R, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 2 K
Romy Gonzalez: .429 BA, 1 HR. 5 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
Ramon Beltre: .353 BA, 5 R, 0 BB, 4 K
Bennett Sousa: 1 IP, 2.12 FIP, 9.00 K/9, 0.00 BB/9, 1 save
Jason Bilous: 3 IP, 3.79 FIP, 6.00 K/9, 3.00 BB/9
Jonathan Stiever: 2 IP, 1.12 FIP, 13.50 K/9, 0.00 BB/9
Codi Heuer: 1 1⁄3 IP, 17.62 FIP, 13.50 K/9, 20.25 BB/9
AZL White Sox
#WhiteSox #2 pick, Steele Walker in his professional debut (DH) at the AZL Rangers. Walked in his first plate appearance by LHP James Jones. #MLBDraft pic.twitter.com/5h0MSOW5OF
— Kim C (@Cu_As) July 15, 2018
Nick Madrigal: .154 BA, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K
Steele Walker: .167 BA, 1 BB, 1 K
Camilo Quinteiro: .273 BA, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
Luis Mieses: .176 BA, 0 BB, 0 K
Cabera Weaver: .231 BA, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K
Lency Delgado: .167 BA, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K
Anderson Comas: .100 BA, 0 BB, 4 K
Brayan Herrera: 10 IP, 2.89 FIP, 9.90 K/9, 2.70 BB/9 ***MVP of the Week***
Hunter Kiel: 2 IP, 2.69 FIP, 13.50 K/9, 4.50 BB/9
Ian Clarkin: 4 IP, 4.72 FIP, 4.50 K/9, 4.50 BB/9
DSL White Sox
Jefferson Mendoza: .300 BA, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K
Jose Rodriguez: .143 BA, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Francisco Benitez: 3 2⁄3 IP, 1.09 FIP, 22.09 K/9, 4.91 BB/9 ***MVP of the Week***
Luis Rodriguez: 4 2⁄3 IP, 8.05 FIP, 3.86 K/9, 7.71 BB/9