clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

White Sox Minor League Update: May 13, 2021

Birmingham keeps crushing, while Kanny’s first-win hopes are crushed

By Brett Ballantini
Craig Dedelow #26 bats from behind, mid-swing
Craig Dedelow mashed hell outta the ball for Birmingham on Thursday.
Tiffany Wintz/South Side Sox. All boxes below courtesy of MiLB.com

On the verge of a seventh loss in nine games, the Charlotte Knights summoned their Caballeros power and rallied late for three runs, and a 3-2 win over the Norfolk Tides on Thursday.

After a Marco Hernández sac fly in the seventh got Charlotte on the board, the Knights tied and took the lead on successive singles in the eighth from blue chippers reborn, Jake Burger and Gavin Sheets.

The pair, hitting third and fourth in the order, combined to go 4-for-8 and had four of Charlotte’s 10 hits. Both of the sluggers’ singles in the eighth were opposite-field taps; Burger added a double earlier in the game, pushing his slugging percentage to nearly .900.

Mike Wright had another strong start, establishing him as something a little more than cannon fodder if the White Sox find themselves in a quick pinch for a spot start in future weeks. Wright went five tonight, five hits and a walk against seven K’s, surrendering two earned and a homer. Hunter Schryver, Ryan Burr (win) and Nik Turley (save) all continued their strong starts for Charlotte, and even Zack Burdi, whose start hasn’t been too hot, whiffed two in his inning of scoreless work. All told, the Knights tossed 13 strikeouts against just one walk.

Poll

Who was the MVP of Charlotte’s 3-2 win over Norfolk on Thursday?

This poll is closed

  • 29%
    Jake Burger: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, K
    (29 votes)
  • 61%
    Gavin Sheets: 2-for-4, GWRBI, LOB
    (61 votes)
  • 0%
    Tim Beckham: 2-for-4, 2 LOB
    (0 votes)
  • 7%
    Mike Wright: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 7 K, HR, WP, 2 HB
    (7 votes)
  • 2%
    Zack Burdi: IP, 2 K
    (2 votes)
  • 0%
    Ryan Burr: IP, K, WIN
    (0 votes)
  • 1%
    Nik Turley: IP, H, 2 K, SAVE
    (1 vote)
100 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Cold Cat of Charlotte’s 3-2 win over Norfolk on Thursday?

This poll is closed

  • 96%
    Seby Zavala: 0-for-4, 3 K, 3 LOB, GIDP
    (61 votes)
  • 3%
    Nate Nolan: 0-for-3, K, 2 LOB
    (2 votes)
63 votes total Vote Now

Have you heard about the utter badassery that is the Birmingham offense this year? Boy howdy, it’s potent, proven again in a 16-6 win on the bay over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos on Thursday night.

Up 6-2 in the second and 10-3 in the third, the Barons tacked on four insurance runs late, for good measure.

Wait, is having six starters in your lineup with an OPS of 1.007 or better a good thing? OK. Well then, let’s highlight some keys to the utter carnage that Birmingham inflicted on the Wahoos.

Romy González, who is absolutely going ham this season, chased an RBI single in the first with a three-run homer in the second. And that was just the first of three three-run dongs B-ham slapped on Pensey, with Xavier Fernández and Zack Granite fueling those six late runs in the sixth and seventh innings.

Now, there’s bound to be some bad news even for a 7-2 team, and tonight it was the hittable efforts of starter Emilio Vargas (3 1⁄3 IP, four earned, three walks) and stopper Ofriedy Gómez (3 2⁄3 IP, four hits, two earned, struck out the side in the sixth). Gómez vultured the win, mostly due to Birmingham’s beerleaguer offense for the night. Alec Hansen (three walks in a scoreless inning) and Will Kincanon (a proper closer outing over one scoreless) wrapped things up with Alabama’s juggernaut.

Raise a glass and celebrate, Keelin Billue!

Poll

Who was the Barons MVP in Thursday’s 16-6 clubbing of the Wahoos?

This poll is closed

  • 29%
    Zack Granite: 2-for-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, GWRBI, K, LOB
    (25 votes)
  • 3%
    Zach Remillard: 2-for-3, 3 R, BB, SB, HBP, E
    (3 votes)
  • 28%
    Romy González: 3-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, LOB, HR
    (24 votes)
  • 38%
    Craig Dedelow: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, E, RF assist to 1B
    (33 votes)
85 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Cold Cat in Birmingham’s 16-6 clubbing of the Wahoos on Thursday?

This poll is closed

  • 32%
    Ian Dawkins: 0-for-4, R, BB, 3 LOB
    (19 votes)
  • 42%
    Emilio Vargas: 3 1⁄3 IP, H, 4 R/3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 2 HB
    (25 votes)
  • 8%
    Ofriedy Gómez: 3 2⁄3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, WIN
    (5 votes)
  • 16%
    Alec Hansen: IP, 3 BB, K
    (10 votes)
59 votes total Vote Now

Though not nearly as dramatic as Charlotte’s come-from-behind win, Winston-Salem nonetheless followed suit, as first week MVP Luis Curbelo drilled a solo shot with one out in the sixth inning to provide the eventual game-winner in the 2-1 Dash win.

Predictably, this win was ascribed to some killer arm work, Jason Bilous going all MONSTER on the Crawdads — five two-hit innings, 10 Ks, and you’re really sitting here reading expecting more than that? Early Comeback Player of the 2021 White Sox System favorite Luke Shilling, Vincenzo Aiello and Caleb Freeman brought it on home with four scoreless to chase Bilous. All told, 14 Ks for W-S hurlers, one walk. WOOF.

The Dash creep to 4-5 on the year.

Poll

Who was the Winston-Salem MVP in Thursday’s 2-1 squeaker over Hickory?

This poll is closed

  • 6%
    Luis Curbelo: 1-for-4, R, GWRBI, HR, 2 K, LOB
    (4 votes)
  • 4%
    Lenyn Sosa: 2-for-4, 2B, R, 2 K, 3 LOB
    (3 votes)
  • 0%
    Tyler Osik: 1-for-3, BB
    (0 votes)
  • 86%
    Jason Bilous: 5 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 10 K, WIN
    (53 votes)
  • 1%
    Vincenzo Aiello: 2 IP, 2 K, HOLD
    (1 vote)
61 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Winston-Salem Cold Cat in Thursday’s 2-1 squeaker over Hickory?

This poll is closed

  • 2%
    Alex Destino: 1-for-4, 3 K
    (1 vote)
  • 97%
    Johan Cruz: 0-for-3, 3 K, 3 LOB
    (45 votes)
46 votes total Vote Now

Do I need to recap this? Maybe some tweets can tell the story pretty well.

How it started:

How it’s going:

Or, want something more official?

How it started:

How it’s going:

That just about wraps it.

Two hits in the game! Three errors! Nine straight losses to open the season!

Matthew Thompson was nails in a five-inning outing, so watch out if he ever gets more than two hits in support of his work.

Poll

Who was the Kanny MVP of the fall-from-ahead 7-6 loss at Fayetteville?

This poll is closed

  • 0%
    Ramon Laureano: 0-for-2, RBI, 2 BB, K, E
    (0 votes)
  • 98%
    Matthew Thompson: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 69 pitches/42 strikes
    (59 votes)
  • 1%
    Marcus Evey: 2 IP, 3 K, HOLD, WP, 25 pitches/17 strikes
    (1 vote)
60 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Kanny Cold Cat of the fall-from-ahead 7-6 loss at Fayetteville?

This poll is closed

  • 6%
    DJ Gladney: 0-for-4, BB, 2 K, 2 LOB
    (3 votes)
  • 8%
    Benyamin Bailey: 0-for-3, R, BB, 3 K, LOB
    (4 votes)
  • 6%
    Iván González: 0-for-4, 2 K, 3 LOB, pickoff at 1B
    (3 votes)
  • 14%
    José Rodríguez: 1-for-3, R, RBI, 2 BB, 2 E including game-losing throw
    (7 votes)
  • 0%
    Dilmer Mejía: IP, 4 H, 3 R/1 ER, BB, 2 K
    (0 votes)
  • 51%
    Rigo Fernández: 1⁄3 IP, 3 H, 4 ER/3 R, 2 BB, K, HOLD, LOSS
    (24 votes)
  • 12%
    Sammy Peralta, 0 IP, HB, eight pitches, BLOWN SAVE
    (6 votes)
47 votes total Vote Now

More From South Side Sox