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White Sox Minor League Update: July 17, 2021

Another rough day in the system, but with some flashes of promise in the upper levels and a DSL walk-off win

By Malachi Hayes and Brett Ballantini
Did you expect to see a DSL player photo? Well, walk-off hero Randel Mondesi (shown here with pops, Raúl) gets the honors.
@Enrique_Rojas1/Twitter

Another rough day for the Charlotte pitching staff on Saturday, as Mike Wright grinded through six solid innings for the Knights only for a Tyler Johnson meltdown to quickly put to bed what had up to that point been a competitive game. Wright allowed just four hits and struck out four, only getting touched up in the third inning when three of those four hits came consecutively and for extra bases, with a William Contreras home run following up back-to-back doubles from Johan Camargo and Alex Jackson to give Gwinnett a 3-0 lead.

Johnson’s nightmare season continued with gusto, recording just a single out — a punchout of Christian Pache — but walking two and allowing four hits, including a grand slam to former Tigers friend Travis Demeritte. On the brighter side, Kyle Kubat’s stuff appears to have been sharp in one of his best nights since being promoted to Triple-A as a reliever, striking out all four of the hitters he faced to close Charlotte’s pitching line.

On the offensive side, the Eloy Jiménez revival tour hit a slight bump in the road, striking out in his first three plate appearances of the day before salvaging his game with an eighth-inning double, his first extra-base hit in four rehab games with Charlotte. Also out on a rehab assignment, Jake Lamb went 1-for-2 with a walk in his second game with the Knights, though the performance of Gavin Sheets and Jake Burger in the majors as of late will make for some tough roster decisions soon. Yermín Mercedes continued to find his groove, belting his third homer since his return to Charlotte, where he’s now slashing .298/.365/.638 in 12 games. He DH’d on Saturday, but if he can show himself to be a palatable option behind the plate in Charlotte, it’s easy to see him trading places with Seby Zavala sometime in the near-ish future.

Poll

Charlotte lost on Saturday, 11-3. Who was its MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 19%
    Mike Wright: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
    (23 votes)
  • 39%
    Yermín Mercedes: 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
    (47 votes)
  • 41%
    Kyle Kubat: 1 1⁄3 IP, 4 K
    (50 votes)
120 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Charlotte lost on Saturday, 11-3. Who was its Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 94%
    Tyler Johnson: 2⁄3 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, K
    (99 votes)
  • 0%
    Ti’quan Forbes: 0-for-4, 2 K, 2 LOB
    (0 votes)
  • 5%
    Matt Reynolds: 0-for-3, 3 K, 4 LOB
    (6 votes)
105 votes total Vote Now

What turned out to be the only game played of the two seven-inning affairs that were planned against the Rocket City Trash Pandas on Saturday was over and out in a flash, as the Barons needed just two runs on five hits to secure a 2-0 victory in just an hour and a half. MLB.com’s 74th ranked prospect Reid Detmers retired the first eight batters he saw for the Trash Pandas, including five strikeouts, before back-to-back-to-back line-drive singles from Tyler Neslony, Romy González, and Carlos Pérez got Birmingham into the H and then R column. Micker Adolfo was responsible for the Barons other run on the night, driving in Neslony again on a fifth inning sacrifice fly.

Detmers, who was connected to the White Sox prior to the 2020 draft but was taken by the Angels one pick before Garrett Crochet was ultimately selected, allowed just that one run over four innings of work, but it was enough to be saddled with the loss thanks to the work of his Birmingham counterpart. John Parke picked up his third win of the season for the Barons, and his second in three tries, throwing a wizardly six innings of two-hit ball alongside three walks and three punchouts. Parke faced the minimum through three innings, and only ran into trouble when he sandwiched two walks around a David MacKinnon double with two outs in the fourth inning. He induced a fly out from Dalton Pompey to end the inning, and allowed nothing more than a Torii Hunter Jr. single after that.

Poll

Birmingham won this shortened makeup contest, 2-0. Who was the Barons MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 90%
    John Parke: 6 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K
    (72 votes)
  • 5%
    Tyler Nelsony: 1-for-1, BB, 2 R
    (4 votes)
  • 5%
    Romy González: 2-for-4
    (4 votes)
80 votes total Vote Now

Poll

The Barons played today, and they won! With only a couple of ABs apiece, Cold Cat voting is pleasantly difficult.

This poll is closed

  • 10%
    JJ Muno: 0-for-2, 2 LOB
    (7 votes)
  • 89%
    Joel Booker: 0-for-2, K, 2 LOB
    (59 votes)
66 votes total Vote Now

Another tough one for the young Dash, who fell to 26-39 amid another lackluster offensive showing in a 8-1 loss to the Bowling Green Hot Rods.

The Dash scattered just seven hits against Bowling Green pitching, including a single apiece from Yolbert Sánchez and Yoelqui Céspedes, with the former’s eighth inning knock responsible for the team’s only run of the night. The bright spot that is Lenyn Sosa continued to be bright, stroking his 14th double of the season, but that would be more or less all the offense could manage against Rays farmhands Jacob Lopez, Miller Hogan, and Ezequiel Zabaleta.

On the hill, Johan Dominguez’s return to the bump after his July 3 foreign-substance ejection and suspension was successful, if not triumphant. The 25-year-old was effectively wild, walking four and striking out six in five innings of work, and his 4.88 ERA would be considerably more palatable were it not for a two-inning, nine-run blowup on June 22. But if it’s not one thing with this team, it’s another, and the relievers behind him did him no favors, with Caleb Freeman and Sal Biasi combining to give up five runs of their own in the last three innings. All in all, competitive games continue to elude the grasp of the lower rungs of this organization.

Poll

Another big margin of defeat for the Dash. Who was their MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 35%
    Johan Dominguez: 5 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
    (23 votes)
  • 58%
    Yolbert Sánchez: 1-for-4, R, RBI, 2B, LOB
    (38 votes)
  • 6%
    Lenyn Sosa: 1-for-4, 2B, 3 LOB
    (4 votes)
65 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Another big margin of defeat for the Dash. Who was their Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 3%
    Ian Dawkins: 0-for-4, 3 K, 2 LOB
    (2 votes)
  • 90%
    Gunnar Troutwine: 0-for-4, 4 K, 4 LOB
    (59 votes)
  • 6%
    Hansen Butler: IP, 4 H, 2 ER, BB
    (4 votes)
65 votes total Vote Now

The offense didn’t fail to show up in Kannapolis tonight, but their pitching staff once again fell victim to the big inning, with a pair of 2019 college arms struggling as 21st-rounder Chase Solesky failed to escape the second inning and ninth-rounder Tyson Messner placed the game out of reach with a three-walk, four-run sixth inning. Not unlike the big league club as of late, poor defense unraveled this game early on, with the first two runs of the game scoring on errors from José Rodríguez and Richard García. They now have 101 errors on the season, the most in the Low-A East division.

There was once again some baseball joy in House Madrigal, as Ty threw 2 1⁄3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts, the fourth time in five appearances that he’s worked two-plus innings without a run to his name.

Several of the big names in the lineup received the night off, but the middle of the order picked up at least some slack. With DJ Gladney and Chase Krogman all riding the pine, Luis Mieses and Caberea Weaver provided power for the Cannon Ballers, with the three doubles between the two of them being the team’s only extra-base hits of the night. Kannapolis is now 19-35 on the season, tacking on another night with little more to say than, on to the polls!

Poll

Another Kannapolis L. Who was its MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 90%
    Harvin Mendoza: 3-for-3, 2B, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB
    (55 votes)
  • 1%
    Luis Mieses: 2-for-4, 3 R, BB, K
    (1 vote)
  • 8%
    Caberea Weaver: 2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI, K, LOB
    (5 votes)
61 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Another Kannapolis L. Who was the Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 24%
    Chase Solesky: 1 2⁄3 IP, 4 H, 4 R/2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, LOSS
    (14 votes)
  • 57%
    Tyson Messner: 2⁄3 IP, 3 ER, 3 BB
    (33 votes)
  • 17%
    Samil Polanco: 0-for-5, 3 K, 3 LOB
    (10 votes)
57 votes total Vote Now

The stagnant ACL White Sox offense broke out today, with eight runs on 11 hits, and converting 5-of-12 with RISP.

The bad news, leading to a 12-8 loss? Some arms in Arizona did not have a good day, led by veteran of now-32 AZ rookie league games, Jacob Gilliland. Gilliland has been a reliever in his career to date, but the White Sox are converting him to starter; it is not taking, to the tune tonight of five earned in three innings. Brandon Jenkins, who was not listed as injured but is apparently in Arizona for rehab purposes, there seems no reason for him to have been demoted, got touched even harder than Gilliland.

So let’s talk hitters. Misael González is now up to eight RBIs in 14 games with an eruption tonight, and Jefferson Mendoza homered despite splitting the game at catcher with Ruben Benavides.

Maybe the White Sox shouldn’t have multiple Arizona Complex League teams, because the one they have has started out pretty awfully.

Poll

The Arizona Complex League White Sox lost on Saturday to the Dodgers. Who was their MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 5%
    Rigo Fernández; IP, H
    (3 votes)
  • 0%
    Bryce Hutchinson: IP, H, BB, 2 K
    (0 votes)
  • 67%
    Misael González: 2-for-5, R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR, 2 K, 4 LOB
    (37 votes)
  • 27%
    Jeremiah Burks: 2-for-3, 2 R, 2B, RBI, 2 HBP
    (15 votes)
  • 0%
    E.P. Reese: 1-for-2, R, 2 BB, HBP, LOB
    (0 votes)
55 votes total Vote Now

Poll

The ACL White Sox lost to the Dodgers on Saturday. Who was the Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 0%
    Logan Glass: 1-for-5, R, 2 K, 4 LOB
    (0 votes)
  • 1%
    Anthony Espinoza: 1-for-5, 2 LOB
    (1 vote)
  • 45%
    Jacob Gilliland: 3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 4 K, WP, HB, LOSS
    (23 votes)
  • 9%
    Erick Bello: IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, K
    (5 votes)
  • 43%
    Brandon Jenkins: 2⁄3 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W WP, HB
    (22 votes)
51 votes total Vote Now

Carlos Hinestroza, killer closer of the DSL White Sox, blew a save in strange fashion on Saturday, entering the game and issuing an infield single to short. That infield single scored courtesy of a wild pitch/advance to third on fly out/ground out combo that you just don’t see often.

However! Layant Tapia and Randel Mondesi had their buddy’s back. Tapia led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, and Mondesi slapped a walk-off double to deep center, giving the White Sox a 4-3 and Hinestroza his first professional win.

Poll

What a game! The DSL Sox walked off the DSL Bengals! Who was the Sox MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 81%
    Randel Mondesi: 1-for-1, RBI, 2B, GWRBI, RF assist at 3B
    (48 votes)
  • 1%
    Layant Tapia: 1-for-2, GW R, LOB
    (1 vote)
  • 6%
    Dario Borrero: 2-for-2, R, 2B, HBP, SB, CS/picked off 1B
    (4 votes)
  • 10%
    Jorge Ferrer: 3 2⁄3 IP, H, ER, 3 BB, 6 K
    (6 votes)
59 votes total Vote Now

Poll

What a game! The DSL Sox walked off the DSL Bengals! Who was the Sox Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 63%
    Alberto Bernal: 0-for-3, 2 K, LOB
    (28 votes)
  • 0%
    Carlos Gomez: 0-for-2, LOB, CS
    (0 votes)
  • 36%
    Luis Pineda: 0-for-3, K, LOB, 2-for-5 CS
    (16 votes)
44 votes total Vote Now

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