White Sox Minor League Weekly Update: Week 19

Charlotte Knights — 2 ¹⁄₂ GB in International League Wild Card

Yermin Mercedes: .417 BA, 1 HR, 4 R, 6 RBI, 6 BB, 2 K
Ramón Torres: .688 BA, 4 HR, 7 R, 9 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K **MVP of the Week**
Nick Madrigal: .269 BA, 6 R, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 0 K, 1 SB
Zack Collins: .235 BA, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 5 K
Danny Mendick: .278 BA, 4 R, 1 RBI, 7 BB, 6 K
Luis Robert: .107 BA, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 13 K
Matt Foster: 3 IP, 4.62 FIP, 15.0 K/9, 0.0 BB/9

Ramón Torres was on another level last week. He only played in four games, but he averaged a home run per game while hitting .688. Now, this outburst is probably is the MLB ball, because in 58 games with the Barons, Torres didn’t even homer, but it was impressive nonetheless. The Sox signed the 26 year-old over the offseason from the Kansas City Royals as infield depth, much like the Ryan Goins and Alcides Escobar signings. Also like those players, Torres has MLB experience, with 42 games as a Royal. It was not a very successful MLB tenure with the bat, but he did show a pretty decent glove per DRS and has positional versatility. He was not doing all that well in Birmingham with his bat, but maybe all he needed was a very bouncy baseball in Triple-A. He will probably be a depth player the Sox hold on to, because Torres is in his mid-20s.

Birmingham Barons — 5 ¹⁄₂ GB in Southern League North Division

Gavin Sheets: .222 BA, 1 HR, 1 BB, 4 K
Luis González: .278 BA, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 SB
Luis Basabe: .211 BA, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K
Blake Rutherford: .444 BA, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K, 2 SB **MVP of the Week**
Alec Hansen: 2 IP, 4.25 FIP, 9.0 K/9, 4.5 BB/9
Tyler Johnson: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 13.54 FIP, 15.43 K/9, 7.71 BB/9
Codi Heuer: 2 1⁄₃ IP, 3.68 FIP, 3.86 K/9, 3.86 BB/9
Kodi Medeiros: 3 IP, 10.25 FIP, 6.0 K/9, 9.0 BB/9
Blake Battenfield: 5 ²⁄₃ IP, 1.66 FIP, 9.53 K/9, 1.59 BB/9
Lincoln Henzman: 5 IP, 3.65 FIP, 9.0 K/9, 7.2 BB/9
Bernardo Flores: 5 IP, 6.05 FIP, 7.2 K/9, 5.4 BB/9

Bernardo Flores is back. He made five very short starts in Great Falls and Kannapolis and besides the results, looked pretty Flores-like. Obviously, he was an advanced arm going against mostly rookies, but Flores’ walks were down so the command was there. It was not as great a story when his innings were ramped up with his return to Double-A. The walks were high, but the results were better. The lone run Flores allowed was a homer, so that is why the FIP is 6.05 and the ERA just 1.80, the walks and the homer. But the walks didn’t hurt him, as Flores was able to keep everybody that got on base, stranded on base. If not for the injury, Flores would definitely be in Charlotte and possibly MLB but alas, that did not happen. It should be interesting to see how and where Flores finishes his season, with September call-ups and the AFL season only a few weeks away.

Winston-Salem Dash — 4 ¹⁄₂ GB in the CL Southern Division “Wild Card”

Steele Walker: .280 BA, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 SB
Andrew Vaughn: .273 BA, 2 R, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K
Andrew Perez: 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 1.55 FIP, 14.54 K/9, 4.15 BB/9 **MVP of the Week**
Jacob Lindgren: 3 IP, 2.73 FIP, 12.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9
Bennett Sousa: 4 1⁄₃ IP, 1.78 FIP, 10.38 K/9, 2.08 BB/9
Jonathan Stiever: 3 IP, 2.40 FIP, 9.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9
Konnor Pilkington: 5 IP, 6.20 FIP, 7.2 K/9, 5.4 BB/9
Kade McClure: 4 IP, 14.90 FIP, 9.0 K/9, 9.0 BB/9

Kannapolis Intimidators — 7 ¹⁄₂ GB in SALLY Northern Division

Ian Dawkins: .333 BA, 1 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K
Lenyn Sosa: .385 BA, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 7 K
Davis Martin: 4 IP, 3.25 FIP, 11.25 K/9, 6.75 BB/9
Jason Bilous: 10 ²⁄₃ IP, 4.53 FIP, 12.66 K/9, 3.37 BB/9
Johan Dominguez: 9 IP, 1.05 FIP, 11.0 K/9, 0.0 BB/9 **MVP of the Week**

Johan Dominguez has had a very interesting season as the “Mike Montgomery/Hector Santiago” of the Kannapolis Intimidators. He has 20 appearances, 11 starts and nine in relief; just this past week, he threw four innings in relief and had a five-inning start. Those nine innings only yielded one earned run. He has been very good in both roles this season He has a 3.08 ERA as a starter and a 2.50 ERA as a reliever. When he was with the Milwaukee Brewers, Dominguez moved very slowly up the ranks — he was in a rookie league from 2016-18 while older than a teenager — but he has certainly caught a few eyes in his first full professional season.

Great Falls Voyagers — 2 ¹⁄₂ GB in PL North Division

Harvin Mendoza: .250 BA, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K
Caberea Weaver: .273 BA, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 SB
Lency Delgado: .167 BA, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K
Luis Mieses: .364 BA, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K **MVP of the Week**
Karan Patel: 1 IP, 2.14 FIP, 9.0 K/9, 0.0 BB/9

AZL White Sox — 5 GB in AZL Central Division

DJ Gladney: .111 BA, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K
José Rodriguez: .235 BA, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 SB
Logan Glass: .231 BA, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K
Micker Adolfo: .300 BA, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K
Chase Krogman: .111 BA, 0 BB, 1 K
Caleb Freeman: 4 IP, 0.76 FIP, 15.75 K/9, 0.0 BB/9 **MVP of the Week**

He’s back, Micker Adolfo is back! He had “arthroscopic surgery on his elbow” and was supposed to miss the rest of 2019, but hey, he’s back. This is actual welcome injury news from the White Sox, which usually never happens. He had a good first three games, including a homer. It would be a long shot that Adolfo rejoins his previous team in Birmingham, but him being back is already a surprise. My guess is that he stays with the AZL Sox for the remainder of the season and then gets time in the AFL as well. But hey, good injury news!

DSL White Sox — 10 GB in DSL Baseball City Division

Benyamin Bailey: .389 BA, 1 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K **MVP of the Week**
Yolbert Sánchez: .214 BA, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Elijah Tatís: .000 BA, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K
Anthony Espinoza: .333 BA, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K
Ronaldo Guzman: ²⁄₃ IP, 26.17 FIP, 27.0 K/9, 27.0 BB/9