White Sox Minor League Update: July 10, 2019

Charlotte Knights All-Star Game participants

Ryan Goins: 1-for-2, 0 BB, 1 K
Connor Walsh: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Fayetteville Woodpeckers 3, Winston-Salem Dash 2

JJ Muno: 2-for-2, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K (.244 BA, .781 OPS)
Evan Skoug: 1-for-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K (.208 BA, .805 OPS) **MVP**
Kade McClure: 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (2.06 ERA, 1.12 WHIP)

It was a low-scoring game throughout, but both offenses finally got going by the end. The funny part is that neither of the starters in this game even got past five innings. Kade McClure started tonight for the Dash and only lasted 4 ²⁄₃ innings. The trouble he ran into came in the second inning. After allowing Ross Adolph to reach base, McClure allowed a two-run homer to put the Woodpeckers up 2-0, and that where the score stayed until the eighth inning. A big reason when McClure was lifted in the fifth was because of his high pitch count (putting eight runners on). However, besides one mistake, McClure was able to keep the Dash in the game without having strikeout stuff. Meanwhile, the Dash offense didn’t get to work until the eighth, courtesy of Evan Skoug. With JJ Muno on, Skoug hit a home run to right center field to tie the game 2-2. But the tie didn’t really last. Jose Nin allowed the go-ahead run in the next half-inning. In what will probably not have a great response from fans, Justin Jirschele’s team made an interesting call. With a runner on second in the top of the ninth with no outs, Zach Remillard sacrifice bunted the runner over to third. Remillard is hitting .302 with a .777 OPS, and bunted. As you can see, that runner did not score, and the Dash lost, 3-2.

Greensboro Grasshoppers 6, Kannapolis Intimidators 2

Ian Dawkins: 0-for-5, 0 BB, 1 K (.319 BA, .803 OPS)
Lenyn Sosa: 1-for-4, 1 BB, 0 K (.236 BA, .622 OPS)
Andrew Vaughn: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 0 K (.235 BA, .803 OPS)
Romy González: 3-for-4, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K (.236 BA, .707 OPS) **MVP**
Sam Long: 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (3.76 ERA, 1.20 WHIP)

After chugging along for a couple of scoreless innings, Sam Long started to run into some trouble. Long walked the first batters in the third, and then off of a wild pitch and throwing error, that runner sat on third. On the next better, he scored. Though there were no more walks or wild pitches, Long kept getting hit, and hit, and hit. By the end of the third, the I’s were down, 3-0. Alex Destino did not like that score very much, so in his next opportunity he did something about it with a solo shot to right-center field. But the trouble did stay with Long, as he allowed another run in the fifth and was pulled. Overall, it could have been worse for Long given his 11 runners allowed on base. Romy González took the Destino approach and decided to add a run himself, this time with a homer to left-center. That was it, though. The Grasshoppers would add two more runs to their tally, as the I’s couldn’t muster anything else in the 6-2 loss. The bright spot in the last three innings was Lane Ramsey. He threw 2 ²⁄₃ innings of shutout baseball, though it was without overly great control of the strike zone (22 strikes, 17 balls).

Grand Junction Rockies 5, Great Falls Voyagers 4

Harvin Mendoza: 2-for-4, 0 BB, 1 K (.304 BA, .922 OPS)
Luis Mieses: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K (.290 BA, .730 OPS) **MVP**
Caberea Weaver: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K (.253 BA, .653 OPS)
Avery Weems: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K (3.60 ERA)

It was a comeback game, as both teams rallied from deficits. Grand Junction struck first in the third inning, after a two-run single. Other than that third inning, Weems was great. The sixth-rounder made his Rookie+ debut without walking a batter, and striking out nine over five innings. Though he allowed the first runs, the Voyagers took the lead before Weems left the game. Luis Mieses started the run scoring in the fourth inning with his second homer of the season, a solo shot. Tom Archer would tie the game in the next inning with a single, and the third run came off of an error in the sixth. Unfortunately, the Great Falls lead didn’t last long, as the Rockies scored three runs in the seventh inning. Karan Patel allowed three runs that inning, and that proved too much to come back from. Great Falls added the last fun of the game in the ninth, after a ground out from Kelvin Maldonado scored Ty Greene to push the game to the final total of 5-4.

AZL Dodgers 4, AZL White Sox 0

Jose Rodriguez: 2-for-2, 2 BB, 0 K (.306 BA, 1.009 OPS) **MVP**
DJ Gladney: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 1 K (.307 BA, .936 OPS)
James Beard: 0-for-3, 0 BB, 1 K (.204 BA, .597 OPS)
Justin Friedman: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (4.91 ERA, 1.50 WHIP)

A bit of a stinker here in Arizona, as the AZL White Sox get shut out in their 4-0 loss. All the offense could muster was five hits, and only two of them were extra-base hits. The top of the lineup did their job, with Misael González and Jose Rodriguez. González reached twice, both singles, and Rodriguez reached all four times, including a double. Rodriguez is now back better than a .300 BA, as well as a 1.000 OPS. Besides those two batters, only one other in the lineup reached base, as the Sox were 0-for-4 with RISP. The pitching was not overly good, but it was decent enough to keep the game from getting out of hand. Justin Friedman went four innings and allowed two, while Luis Rodriguez allowed the other two runs. This was Rodriguez’s first game in the United States after starting the year in the DSL.

DSL White Sox 9, DSL Reds 8 (10)

Anthony Espinoza: 1-for-6, 0 BB, 0 K (.244 BA, .659 OPS)
Yolbert Sánchez: 0-for-3, 0 BB, 1 K (White Sox organizational debut)
Lazaro Leal: 3-for-4, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K (.281 BA, .836 OPS) **MVP**
Carlos Mola: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (5.13 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)

Well, well, look who debuted today! After signing a $2.5 million deal at the international signing day open, Yolbert Sánchez is taking swings in the DSL. It was not a great start, with an 0-fer performance, but the 22 year-old hasn’t played in quite some time. When Luis Robert was signed, he stayed in the DSL an entire season, mainly (probably only) for tax reasons thanks to the gigantic contract he signed. It is not known how long Sánchez will stay in the DSL but once he gets to the States, because of his age and known advanced abilities, he should rise in the system quickly. That arrival in the States just might be in 2020, however.

Back to the game at hand, which was a fun one for the DSL Sox. After going down 2-0 by the fourth inning, the offense woke up in a big way. They scored all eight of their runs in the middle innings to take, and eventually hold, the lead for the win. Lazaro Leal opened up the scoring with a base knock, and it just kept coming after that. Thanks to the usual sloppy play of the DSL, errors and walks really helped the Sox, because only three batters contributed to the six RBI in regulation. The bullpen gave back the lead in the eighth and ninth innings thanks in part to some sloppy play that led to two unearned runs in the eighth. But the DSL Reds came all the way back, this time without being helped by an error in the ninth. The Sox offense must’ve been angry about the lead disappearing, as they quickly got a runner to third base and Cesar Jimenez drove in the go-ahead run. This time, the pen held up as the DSL Sox squeaked by with a 9-8 win.