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White Sox Monthly Minor League Update: June 2019

The 2019 draft picks enter the system, fueling promotions (and patching still more injuries down in the minors), while household names like Luis Robert keep on swinging

By Darren Black
Simply the best: Luis Robert might not have been as good in May or April, but he still rules the farm.
Hannah Stone/@BhamBarons

White Sox — Charlotte shuttle

Zack Collins
Charlotte: .261 BA, 1 HR, 4 XBH, 8 R, 6 RBI, 8 BB, 18 K
White Sox: 0.63 BA, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 8 K

Carson Fulmer
Charlotte: 5 IP, 3.01 FIP, 10.8 K/9, 5.4 BB/9
White Sox: 4 1⁄3 IP, 4.80 FIP, 12.46 K/9, 4.15 BB/9

Daniel Palka
Charlotte: .280 BA, 6 HR, 14 XBH, 15 R, 19 RBI, 8 BB, 22 K, 1 SB **June MVP**
White Sox: .000 BA, 0 BB, 1 K

Charlotte Knights

Seby Zavala: .270 BA, 6 HR, 7 XBH, 16 R, 14 RBI, 7 BB, 29 K
Danny Mendick: .276 BA, 2 HR, 9 XBH, 13 R, 8 RBI, 11 BB, 17 K, 4 SB
Dylan Cease: 17 1⁄3 IP, 5.16 FIP, 7.27 K/9, 6.23 BB/9
Matt Foster: 13 IP, 5.07 FIP, 11.08 K/9, 2.77 BB/9

Dylan Cease is coming up! Oddly enough, he has not done much recently to warrant it. His strikeouts have been way down lately and have fallen to his rookie-level numbers. At the same time, Cease is walking too many batters. On the bright side though, he has been allowing the most ground balls since his time as a Cubs prospect. Cease’s grounder rate is up about 5% and the infield fly rate is up about 13%. Now, Cease has had multiple abbreviated starts (68 1⁄3 innings in 15 starts), which works out to about 4 2⁄3 innings per start — and no quality starts since May 29. So, expectations should be tempered with Cease in the majors. Plus, odds are Ricky Renteria will probably have a short leash. Any week you can call up your top prospect to the majors is a great week, but remember, even top prospects usually struggle.

Birmingham - Charlotte shuttle

Joel Booker
Charlotte: .250 BA, 1 HR, 2 XBH, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K
Birmingham: .214 BA, 4 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 9 K, 3 SB

Kyle Kubat
Birmingham: 9 1⁄3 IP, 2.40 FIP, 6.75 K/9, 0.96 BB/9
Charlotte: 12 IP, 3.44 FIP, 6.75 K/9, 0.00 BB/9

Yermin Mercedes
Birmingham: .265 BA, 1 HR, 2 XBH, 5 R, 5 RBI, 7 BB, 6 K, 1 SB
Charlotte: .476 BA, 2 HR, 5 XBH, 4 R, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K

Birmingham Barons

Gavin Sheets: .303 BA, 3 HR, 8 XBH, 17 R, 24 RBI, 11 BB, 13 K
Laz Rivera: .256 BA, 3 XBH, 13 R, 8 RBI, 3 BB, 13 K, 3 SB
Luis Robert: .330 BA, 5 HR, 9 XBH, 21 R, 13 RBI, 6 BB, 29 K, 8 SB **June MVP**
Luis Gonzalez: .263 BA, 2 HR, 8 XBH, 12 R, 17 RBI, 11 BB, 17 K, 3 SB
Luis Basabe: .227 BA, 1 HR, 4 XBH, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 SB - Currently on the IL
Blake Rutherford: .365 BA, 1 HR, 7 XBH, 9 R, 12 RBI, 6 BB, 26 K, 4 SB
Alec Hansen: 8 IP, 8.51 FIP, 7.88 K/9, 11.25 BB/9
Blake Battenfield: 18 1⁄3 IP, 3.48 FIP, 7.36 K/9, 2.95 BB/9
Lincoln Henzman: 29 1⁄3 IP, 2.95 FIP, 4.6 K/9, 1.23 BB/9
Kodi Medeiros: 21 1⁄3 IP, 5.66 FIP, 9.7 K/9, 6.33 BB/9

There was a rush of injury news that especially affected the Barons, as Zack Burdi (knee surgery) and Jimmy Lambert (TJS) are both out for the season. However, the players that are not hurt and still around have all improved from their early struggles. Rutherford has gone from a .454 OPS in April to .585 in May, and .871 OPS in June. Luis González has gone from having an OPS in the low .600s for most of the season to a .717 in June, with his best work coming in the past couple of weeks. Even Gavin Sheets has vastly improved. In each month, he has hit more homers than the previous, as his OPS skyrocketed to .884 in June. With the combination of improvement of the top prospects along with Luis Robert’s and Nick Madrigal’s continued success, the Barons already seem to be playoff contenders in the second half of their season.

Birmingham — Winston-Salem shuttle

Nick Madrigal
Winston-Salem: .167 BA, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
Birmingham: .372 BA, 5 XBH, 16 R, 10 RBI, 7 BB, 2 K , 9 SB

Codi Heuer
Winston-Salem: 9 IP, 0.98 FIP, 11.0 K/9, 0.0 BB/9
Birmingham: 6 1⁄3 IP, 3.10 FIP, 7.11 K/9, 4.26 BB/9

Winston-Salem Dash

Steele Walker: .330 BA, 3 HR, 10 XBH, 13 R, 16 RBI, 4 BB, 11 K, 1 SB **June MVP**
Konnor Pilkington: 20 2⁄3 IP, 3.23 FIP, 9.58 K/9, 3.92 BB/9
Kade McClure: 29 2⁄3 IP, 3.86 FIP, 6.07 K/9, 2.43 BB/9

The 2018 draft class looks very good as players arrive in Winston-Salem. Nick Madrigal started out slow to begin the year, but by late May into June, he has looked like the top-three pick he is. Codi Heuer, the converted starter, has flourished as a reliever: He left Winston-Salem with a 2.05 FIP and a 5.38 K/BB rate. Steele Walker, the longest-tenured of the 2018 draft picks at this point, has been fantastic all year. After crushing it in Kannapolis earlier in the year, Walker has continued his success with a 128 wRC+ on the Dash. His plate coverage has vastly improved on the Dash, with a 4% drop in strikeout rate, and the amount he is pulling the ball indicates he has been hitting the ball hard. However, Konnor Pilkington has not had much success in Winston-Salem yet, with a 6.09 ERA. Still, Pilkington’s strikeouts are still high, and he is allowing more ground balls than he did with the I’s. Those strikeouts and a low rate of home runs allowed is why Pilkington’s FIP (3.84) is so much better than his ERA. Even the newbies — Andrew Perez, Bennett Sousa, and Jonathan Stiever — have each done very well so far in their limited action in Single-A+. It says something that Stiever has the worst ERA of the bunch — and it is only at 2.08! Last year’s draft is definitely showing out in its first full year of pro ball.

Winston-Salem — Kannapolis shuttle

Andrew Perez
Kannapolis: 8 2⁄3 IP, 1.34 FIP, 14.54 K/9, 3.12 BB/9
Winston-Salem: 6 IP, 3.26 FIP, 7.5 K/9, 4.5 BB/9

Bennett Sousa
Kannapolis: 6 1⁄3 IP, 4.16 FIP, 15.63 K/9, 0.0 BB/9
Winston-Salem: 5 2⁄3 IP, 6.07 FIP, 3.18 K/9, 3.18 BB/9

Jonathan Stiever
Kannapolis: 15 IP, 2.53 FIP, 10.2 K/9, 0.6 BB/9 **June MVP**
Winston-Salem: 13 IP, 2.58 FIP, 9.0 K/9, 3.46 BB/9

Kannapolis Intimidators

Corey Zangari: .276 BA, 4 HR, 13 XBH, 13 R, 13 RBI, 7 BB, 22 K, 1 SB
Lenyn Sosa: .253 BA, 2 HR, 7 XBH, 15 R, 9 RBI, 9 BB, 21 K, 1 SB
Bryce Bush: .198 BA, 3 HR, 6 XBH, 12 R, 9 RBI, 8 BB, 31 K, 1 SB
Ian Dawkins: .247 BA, 1 HR, 5 XBH, 12 R, 4 RBI, 6 BB, 17 K, 3 SB
Davis Martin: 34 IP, 2.82 FIP, 9.26 K/9, 2.12 BB/9
Jason Bilous: 23 IP, 3.96 FIP, 11.35 K/9, 5.09 BB/9

Pitching, pitching, and more pitching is what is getting it done in Kannapolis. We have already chronicled now-former I’s pitchers and how they earned their way to Winston-Salem in Pilkington, McClure, and Stiever, but even the holdovers are showing out. Davis Martin had about as rough a start a pitcher could have in April, and was poor in May as well, but he was much improved this June. Davis’ FIP has always looked better than his ERA, but his ERA finally had a respectable month (3.97) in June. His command has looked good all season, it just seems that Davis can get hit a lot when he isn’t missing bats. The other top guy, Jason Bilous, had been was used as a reliever until May 30. Since his first game started, Bilous has a 2.33 ERA, and that includes six no-hit innings the last time he pitched. Even some of the lesser-known guys have been great, like Taylor Varnell, who also had six no-hit innings in his last start and holds a 3.07 ERA with a 20.7% K-BB rate. Johan Dominguez, who also started the year as a reliever, currently has a 1.77 ERA as a starter that at one point included a four-start scoreless streak. Whatever the I’s pitching coach staff is doing, please keep doing it, because it is working.

Kannapolis - Great Falls shuttle

Luis Curbelo
Kannapolis: .091 BA, 1 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 27 K
Great Falls: .400 BA, 1 HR, 2 XBH, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K

Great Falls Voyagers

Harvin Mendoza: .250 BA, 2 HR, 5 XBH, 8 R, 7 RBI, 8 BB, 12 K
Sam Abbott: .300 BA, 1 HR, 4 XBH, 6 R, 4 RBI, 6 BB, 10 K **June MVP**
Lency Delgado: .262 BA, 3 XBH, 4 R, 7 RBI, 4 BB, 15 K
Kelvin Maldonado: .341 BA, 2 XBH, 7 R, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 11 K
Camilo Quinteiro: .355 BA, 6 R, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 9 K, 1 SB
Luis Mieses: .341 BA, 3 XBH, 5 R, 7 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K
Caberea Weaver: .231 BA, 4 XBH, 6 R, 2 RBI, 6 BB, 26 K
Anderson Comas: .225 BA, 4 XBH, 4 R, 6 RBI, 1 BB, 17 K
Dan Metzdorf: 5 IP, 5.27 FIP, 10.8 K/9, 1.8 BB/9
Karan Patel: 6 2⁄3 IP, 2.52 FIP, 14.85 K/9, 2.7 BB/9
Brayan Herrera: 5 IP, 5.47 FIP, 12.6 K/9, 1.8 BB/9

AZL White Sox

Andrew Vaughn: 2-for-4, 0 BB, 1 K
DJ Gladney: .271 BA, 2 HR, 6 XBH, 6 R, 7 RBI, 2 BB, 20 K
Harold Diaz: .385 BA, 3 XBH, 2 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K 1 SB
Bryan Ramos: .316 BA, 1 HR, 4 XBH, 9 R, 5 RBI, 6 BB, 11 K
José Rodriguez: .325 BA, 3 HR, 9 R, 9 RBI, 2 BB, 11 K, 1 SB **June MVP**
James Beard: .200 BA, 1 XBH, 4 R, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 14 K, 1 SB
Josue Guerrero: .200 BA, 3 XBH, 4 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 8 K
Avery Weems: 11 IP, 3.79 FIP, 8.18 K/9, 1.64 BB/9
Tyson Messer: 5 IP, 10.12 FIP, 16.2 K/9, 14.4 BB/9

DSL White Sox

Jefferson Mendoza: .471 BA, 2 HR, 7 XBH, 6 R, 11 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K **June MVP**
Benyamin Bailey: .382 BA, 5 XBH, 7 R, 6 RBI, 20 BB, 14 K, 6 SB
Luis Pineda: .200 BA, 2 XBH, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 9 K
Alberto Bernal: .164 BA, 2 XBH, 9 R, 3 RBI, 12 BB, 21 K
Anthony Espinoza: .253 BA, 1 HR, 8 XBH, 18 R, 15 RBI, 9 BB, 10 K, 2 SB
Ronaldo Guzman: 18 IP, 3.72 FIP, 12.5 K/9, 5.5 BB/9
Luis Rodriguez: 22 IP, 2.32 FIP, 10.23 K/9, 2.05 BB/9

Current Rehab

Tyler Johnson
AZL: 3 IP, 1.18 FIP, 15.0 K/9, 0.0 BB/9
Winston-Salem: 2 IP, 1.92 FIP, 13.5 K/9, 4.5 BB/9

Jacob Lindgren
AZL: 4 1⁄3 IP, 2.90 FIP, 10.38 K/9, 2.08 BB/9

Dylan Covey
Charlotte: 2 IP, 2.11 FIP, 13.5 K/9, 4.5 BB/9

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