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White Sox Minor League Update: July 11, 2021

Jose Rodriguéz goes yard and Eloy continues his rehab assignment with a hit, as A-ball goes 2-for-2, but the higher levels lose.

By Darren Black
José Rodríguez hit his eighth homer of the season to help Kannapolis get the win.
Matt Hankosky/South Side Sox

Futures Game

Yoelqui Céspedes 0-for-2, 0 BB, 1 K

Nothing special here — Jake Burger was supposed to be in this game, but he was promoted to MLB. Which is probably better anyway.

Great pitching on both sides in Triple-A, but the Knights lose, 3-2. Mike Wright took the mound and had another quality start. He went six innings and allowed eight base runners, so just three scoring is pretty good. The bullpen was better as they kept Charlotte in the game late. Tayron Guerrero and Kyle Kubat ended the game with scoreless innings.

Though the box score says the Knights had five hits, does not mean five batters had a hit, in fact, it was just two. Yermín Mercedes had two, one of which was absolutely crushed, a 462-foot bomb.

Luis González had the other three hits and the other run with a homer of his own.

That was it on offense, nobody else had a hit and only Matt Reynolds reached base with a walk. Not easy to win with just hits from two players.

Poll

Who was the Knights MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 65%
    Luis González: 3-for-4, 1 HR, 0 BB, 1 K
    (69 votes)
  • 29%
    Yermín Mercedes: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 0 BB, 1 K
    (31 votes)
  • 5%
    Mike Wright: 6 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 K
    (6 votes)
106 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Knights Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 5%
    Ti’Quan Forbes: 0-for-3, 0 BB, 2 K
    (4 votes)
  • 94%
    Mikie Mahtook: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 2 K
    (73 votes)
77 votes total Vote Now

The 31-27 (well, now 31-28) Birmingham Barons lost to an 18-40 team from Biloxi, not great. They do not have the White Sox magic against teams clearly worse than them. The Barons had an early 3-0 lead and they proceeded to allow six runs without a response.

Let’s start with how they got that three-run lead. Craig Dedelow doubled home two runners in the first inning, and then Romy González drove in the third run in with a single in the next inning. Again, that was it from the offense, but not from the pitching.

John Parke got the start and had a fine time in his first inning, but allowed five runs the next two. He allowed two homers and just hit after hit after hit those two innings. The bullpen was fine, though, Emilio Vargas came in right after Parke and righted the ship in case the offense wanted to score more (they didn’t). Vargas went three shutout innings and struck out two. Due to a Laz Rivera error, another run did score, to put the game where it ended, 6-3. But the bullpen went five innings without an earned run. If the offense could have been better with runners in scoring position, they could have won.

The Barons were 3-for-11 with RISP and left eight runners on base. They somehow scored only three runs while having 13 hits. Dedelow and González had two hits each, along with Zack Granite and Xavier Fernández.

Poll

Who was the Barons MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 74%
    Craig Dedelow: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (43 votes)
  • 5%
    Romy González: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K
    (3 votes)
  • 20%
    Emilio Vargas: 3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K
    (12 votes)
58 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Barons Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 98%
    John Parke: 3 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K
    (55 votes)
  • 1%
    Carlos Pérez: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 0 K
    (1 vote)
56 votes total Vote Now

A win for the Dash, as they close out the week just out of last place in their division. The five runs allowed may indicate that the pitching was not up to snuff today, but they actually were OK after starter Davis Martin. Martin only lasted three innings and allowed those five runs; three of them were earned because of a couple of errors (including one from Eloy Jiménez). Other than Martin, the pitching did not allow a run. Bailey Horn came in for him and worked two no-hit innings with three strikeouts, in his first good game with the Dash. Horn was able to get the win due to some big offense, and Cooper Bradford got the save, his first of the season.

The offense was good, too, which is why they got the win, but Lenyn Sosa has been eating his Wheaties or something because he launched a three-run homer in this one. He had three hits on the day, including this home run.

Do not worry, here is an Eloy hit too, a nice one at that, he scored off of that Sosa homer.

That Sosa homer is what really got things going, and the Dash never looked back. Travis Moniot homered right after Sosa, and then Gunnar Troutwine extended the lead in the fifth with an RBI single. As an aside, Duke Ellis stole his 20th base of the season, so he’s been busy when he can actually get on base.

Poll

Who was the Dash MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 90%
    Lenyn Sosa: 3-for-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (60 votes)
  • 0%
    Travis Moniot: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K
    (0 votes)
  • 9%
    Bailey Horn: 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 3 K
    (6 votes)
66 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Dash Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 75%
    Davis Martin: 3 IP, 3 ER (5 R), 2 BB, 4 K
    (41 votes)
  • 24%
    Ian Dawkins: 0-for-4, 1 BB, 0 K
    (13 votes)
54 votes total Vote Now

A Birmingham loss and a Kannapolis win, what a day! That is where the surprises end, because guess who hit his eighth homer of the season to give Kanny the lead? Yep, José Rodríguez. The two-run homer was one of his three hits on the day. Rodríguez has been a bit of a skid recently, but let’s hope this homer is just the start. Victor Torres and Samil Polanco had multiple hits as well, but it was more of a team effort. All but two hitters reached base, and five reached base twice for a total of 11 hits. The offense even took advantage when its guys were in scoring position, with a .500 batting average in those scenarios.

The pitching was not that bad, either, especially the bullpen. Martin Carrasco got the start and allowed all three runs, but he really did not get into trouble until the fifth. Kevin Folman took that over in what was basically a stopper type of outing, going 3 2⁄3 shutout innings. Folman was not overpowering with his stuff, with just one strikeout, but he threw a lot of strikes and got outs. McKinley Moore came in for his fifth save.

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 98%
    José Rodríguez: 3-for-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K, 2 SB
    (66 votes)
  • 1%
    Kevin Folman: 3 2⁄3 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 K
    (1 vote)
  • 0%
    Victor Torres: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (0 votes)
67 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 3%
    Bryan Ramos: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 1 K
    (2 votes)
  • 61%
    Lency Delgado: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 2 K
    (33 votes)
  • 35%
    Martin Carrasco: 4 1⁄3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 2 K
    (19 votes)
54 votes total Vote Now

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