White Sox Minor League Update: May 2, 2019

Norfolk Tides 8, Charlotte Knights 2

Joel Booker: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 0 K (.150 BA, .390 OPS)
Daniel Palka: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K (.214 BA, .794 OPS)
Zack Collins: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K **MVP** (.274 BA, 1.022 OPS)
Danny Mendick: 1-for-4, 0 BB, 1 K
Jordan Guerrero: 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (8.88 ERA, 2.41 WHIP)
Matt Foster: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (0.00 BA, 0.43 WHIP)
Ian Hamilton: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (9.58 BA, 1.82 WHIP)

Zack Collins continues to show off his power in Triple-A. In the first inning after Daniel Palka walked, Collins hit his seventh home run of the season. Unfortunately, that was the last time the Knights led.

Talk about peaking early: The Knights immediately lost the lead to the Tides, and Norfolk never looked back. Guerrero was crushed in his four-plus innings of work. He allowed 11 hits, four of which were extra-base hits. Connor Walsh came in for Guerrero and saw similar problems, as the 2-0 lead quickly blossomed into an 8-2 deficit. It wasn’t just the pitching that had a tough time though — only four more hits came after Collins’ two-run homer. They also happened to be singles, so there was no real movement on the bases.

Matt Foster and Ian Hamilton came in at the end to throw one shutout inning each, so at least some of the pitching looked good tonight.

Birmingham Barons 4, Chattanooga Lookouts 2

Luis Robert: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K (.000 BA, .250 OPS)
Luis Basabe: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K (.200 BA, .494 OPS)
Luis Gonzalez: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K (.223 BA, .636 OPS)
Yermin Mercedes: 1-for-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K **MVP** (.407 BA, 1.048 OPS)
Gavin Sheets: 1-for-3, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K (.205 BA, .581 OPS)
Laz Rivera: 1-for-3, 0 BB, 0 K (.195 BA, .490 OPS)
Jimmy Lambert: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 6 K (2.94 ERA, 1.27 WHIP)
Zack Burdi: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (0.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP)
Hunter Schryver: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (0.00 ERA, 1.18 WHIP)

The lone win on the farm came from the only team not in North Carolina. The Barons got off to a second-inning lead in tonight’s game: Yermin Mercedes opened up the scoring with his third home run of the season. In the next frame, Mercedes got another RBI, this time in less extravagant sac-fly fashion. Gavin Sheets drove in the final two B-ham runs in the third inning, with a two-run double.

It was now left to the pitching to protect the lead.

Jimmy Lambert may have reached the threshold granting him a quality start, but he was off with his command. He allowed five walks in the game, but somehow only allowed two runs. Zack Burdi came in for his first 2019 appearance in Double-A. His command was also off, but with good enough end results, as he walked two in a shutout inning. Hunter Schyrver proved to be the best of the bunch, with a two inning save consisting of 17 of 22 pitches for strikes to close out the 4-2 win.

Potomac Nationals 4, Winston-Salem Dash 1

Nick Madrigal: 1-for-4, 0 BB, 0 K (.281 BA, .745 OPS)
Steele Walker: 1-for-3, 1 BB, 0 K (.250 BA, .774 OPS)
John Parke: 7 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (4.41 ERA, 1.47 WHIP)
Codi Heuer: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K **MVP** (3.18 ERA, 1.06 WHIP)

This was the theme in North Carolina for the White Sox organization tonight: limited offense. This time, at least the team’s the pitching was better. On the offensive side, the Dash were able to reach base 12 times. But a dozen runners reaching base don’t mean a lot when they only contribute to one run — and on a bases-loaded walk at that. Now, the Dash did have a bit of traffic luck of their own: John Parke and Codi Heuer allowed 14 batters on base, but were bailed out largely by five double plays.

Charleston RiverDogs 4, Kannapolis Intimidators 0

Lenyn Sosa: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 1 K (1.70 BA, .420 OPS)
Romy Gonzalez: 0-for-3, 0 BB, 3 K (.333 BA, .833 OPS)
Bryce Bush: 0-for-3, 0 BB, 1 K (.218 BA, .627 OPS)
Corey Zangari: 0-for-3, 0 BB, 2 K (.273 BA, .697)
Luis Curbelo: 0-for-3, 0 BB, 0 K (.198 BA, .578 OPS)
Kade McClure: 5 ¹⁄₃ IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (4.50 ERA, 1.54 WHIP)
Wilber Perez: 1 ²⁄₃ IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K **MVP** (4.91 ERA, 1.18 WHIP)
Bennett Sousa: 2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (1.93 ERA, 1.50 WHIP)

You thought the other games in North Carolina were bad? Well, here are the Intimidators. Ian Dawkins and Alex Destino collected hits in the game .. and that was it for the offense. The I’s did not walk once, and struck out 12 times. The pitching was better, as they also did not walk a batter. Kade McClure attacked the strike zone, but he was knocked around for eight hits and three runs. The bullpen, led by Wilber Perez and Bennett Sousa, were better, but the offense could not muster anything to make a difference.