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White Sox Minor League Update: June 22, 2022

It was a wild one in Birmingham, and a win, so let’s just stop there because it gets ugly otherwise

By Year of the Hamster
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Sammy Peralta isn’t a guy who normally gets a lot of attention, but his four near-perfect innings rescued a bad start for Birmingham and put the Barons in position for a comeback win.

Well, before we get to another dreary Minor League Update, let’s share the news again that Lenyn Sosa will be joining the White Sox in Chicago on Thursday. Congratulations, Lenyn, your promotion is overdue, although all the way to Chicago is a bit of a shocker!

OK, that put off the inevitable parade of ugliness long enough. Sorry to start negatively, but every night — I edit plenty of these stories, even if this is my Update writing debut this season — is composed of 1-3 or 2-5 records, and it is wearying. And it’s not a matter of great performances failing to add up to team wins — with rare exceptions like Sosa, the farm has significantly disappointed this season. A lot can still change just a half-season in, but we would struggle to put together a single 26-player roster of org All-Stars right now, and that would include AAAA guys or org players having a great year while way too old for level.

So, the Charlotte Knights. There just aren’t many guys here, at Triple-A, who are going to make a major league impact — now, or ever. But don’t blame the Knights — the White Sox took such a woeful pass at stocking upper-level starter arms this offseason that there is now just one healthy starter for Charlotte, the team that is supposed to be supplying emergency starting pitchers to the South Side. The good news is that once Davis Martin gets off of the bus from Chicago and recent re-add to the roster Mike Wright Jr. is healed, the Knights will only have to run out a bullpen game once or twice per series.

Bennett Sousa pitched his first game back down with the Knights, and it didn’t go well. Eloy Jiménez, who apparently texts back-and-forth with White Sox manager Tony La Russa — color me skeptical — went 1-for-4 with two Ks. Yolbert Sánchez, perhaps a little ticked over being passed over by Lenyn Sosa for the majors (yeah, OK, he probably didn’t know, work with me here) or simply determined to win the battle of the Y. Sánchezes tonight (yep, Yolmer is on Worcester, and yes, Yolbert won) went 2-for-4.

And, that’s it. OK, Carlos Pérez, who apparently has the bad luck (injured when the last call of a catcher came, so now-first baseman Seby Zavala went north) that Sosa does not, did gun down 2-for-3 baserunners stealing tonight, picked off a runner at first base, and added a hit in four trips, and that makes him possibly the best catcher currently paid by the White Sox.

Of note: NO WALKS by the Charlotte Knights, a Triple-A, professional baseball outlet, tonight. To pair with five hits.

Also of note: Gavin Sheets, presumably able to play every day in working his way back to the South Side, was not in the lineup, perhaps a signal that he is replacing injured Adam Engel on the active White Sox roster. Or, his caught the bad hammy virus from a White Sox teammate and it laid latent for 10 days.

Poll

Who was the MVP of Charlotte’s 4-0 whitewash at the hands of the Red Sox on Wednesday?

This poll is closed

  • 58%
    Yolbert Sánchez: 2-for-4, K, LOB, won the battle of the Y. Sánchezes over Yolmer
    (21 votes)
  • 33%
    Carlos Pérez: 1-for-4, 2 LOB, 2-for-3 CS plus a pickoff at 1B
    (12 votes)
  • 8%
    Parker Markel: IP, H, K, 11 pitches/9 strikes
    (3 votes)
36 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Cold Cat of Charlotte’s 4-0 whitewash on Wednesday?

This poll is closed

  • 50%
    Laz Rivera: 0-for-3, K, LOB, GIDP, E
    (18 votes)
  • 33%
    Bennett Sousa: IP, 3 H, ER, K, HR
    (12 votes)
  • 5%
    Hunter Schryver: 1 2⁄3 IP, H, ER, 2 BB, 2 K
    (2 votes)
  • 11%
    Dan Winkler: 1 1⁄3 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB
    (4 votes)
36 votes total Vote Now

A win! Fifteen hits! No errors! This is THE GAME today, way to go, Barons.

It was not a great Scott Bewett start, but a decent enough bullpen game, as Sammy Peralta carried Birmingham for four innings and allowed a comeback from down 5-0 and 7-1.

José Rodríguez drove in four, Ian Dawkins had the big single blow with a three-run homer, and JJ Muno had three hits and knocked in two. That trio drove in nine of B-ham’s 10 runs. And it was Popeye who iced the win, with a two-RBI floater that snapped an 8-8 tie in the eighth:

Poll

Yes, you get to name an MVP for a win tonight! Talk to me, Birmingham.

This poll is closed

  • 82%
    José Rodríguez: 3-for-5, 4 RBI, GWRBI, SB, LOB
    (34 votes)
  • 0%
    Yoelqui Céspedes: 2-for-3, 2 R, CS
    (0 votes)
  • 4%
    Ian Dawkins: 2-for-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, BB, K, LOB
    (2 votes)
  • 4%
    JJ Muno: 3-for-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, K
    (2 votes)
  • 7%
    Sammy Peralta: 4 IP, H, 4 K
    (3 votes)
41 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was Birmingham’s Cold Cat in its 10-8 win?

This poll is closed

  • 93%
    Scott Blewett: 3 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
    (28 votes)
  • 0%
    Fraser Ellard: IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, K, WIN, BS
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Alex Destino: 1-for-5, 2 K, 5 LOB
    (0 votes)
  • 6%
    Evan Skoug: 0-for-4, 3 K, 4 LOB, 0-for-4 CS
    (2 votes)
30 votes total Vote Now

Rather than write about “this game” — another loss for the org, which also means the one full-season club that had been better than .500 is not just one game better, at 33-32 — let’s just discuss the ninth inning, when the Dash made a valiant run at a bottom of the ninth tie or walk-off.

The inning started with five-pitch walks to both Oscar Colás and Bryan Ramos. The box score indicates “injury delay” after that, which I am picturing to be a Rodney Dangerfield “Caddyshack” sudden elbow pain from Hudson Valley hurler Ryan Miller. But Miller remained in the game, and promptly issued a double to left to Luis Mieses, scoring Colás and Ramos. Mieses advanced to third on an error from Pat DeMarco in left field, and if you are wondering how a hit scored a double gets Mieses to third on a fielding error in left, so am I. DeMarco dropped his own relay throw? Juggled the ball for a really long time? Fumbled with the ball at the wall, after Mieses was already at second base? Bingo! Thanks, White Sox Daily:

With the game 4-2, Adam Hackenberg hacked on 3-1 and popped out to first base. But Tyler Osik picked Hack up and delivered a sac fly to center that scored Mieses to make it 4-3, Renegades. It would be nice to say that the Dash continued pouring baserunners on and the game ended on a heartbreaking backwards K, but no: Ben Norman struck out on three pitches, so the backwards K was heartbreaking, but the lead was not in reach. Go get ’em tomorrow, W-D, and stay above .500 for the org’s sake.

Poll

Who was the MVP of the Dash’s 4-3 loss to the Renegades?

This poll is closed

  • 36%
    Luis Mieses: 1-for-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 LOB, E
    (11 votes)
  • 30%
    Luis Amaya: 2 IP, H, BB, 3 K
    (9 votes)
  • 0%
    Chase "Luis" Plymell: IP, BB, K
    (0 votes)
  • 33%
    Oscar "Luis" Colás: 1-for-3, R, BB, LOB
    (10 votes)
30 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Cold Cat of the Dash’s 4-3 loss to the Renegades?

This poll is closed

  • 46%
    Garrett Schoenle: 4 IP, 6 H, 4 R/2 ER, BB, 5 K, HR, LOSS
    (13 votes)
  • 42%
    Ben Norman: 0-for-3, BB, 2 K, GIDP, LOB
    (12 votes)
  • 10%
    Duke Ellis: 0-for-3, BB, 2 K, 2 LOB
    (3 votes)
28 votes total Vote Now

KCB was not Kickin’ Care of Business tonight — or, at least, the bullpen wasn’t. A combination of Bowen Plagge and Angel Acevedo surrendered the five runs that Myrtle Beach needed to turn a 3-0 deficit into a 5-3 win. Bummer, because Jesus Valles was hauling it pretty well in this start: five innings, two hits, two walks and three Ks.

The offense and its four hits (and, OK, nine walks, and they are almost as good as nine singles) didn’t help. The good news is that Colson Montgomery kept his eight billion straight games on base streak alive with two singles and a walk (spread ’em out, kid) and Colby Smelley got on base three times (hit, two walks) in four trips to the dish. Only Wes Kath (one double, three Ks) had an extra-base hit.

Poll

Who was the MVP of Kanny’s 5-3 defeat to the Pelicans?

This poll is closed

  • 26%
    Jesus Valles: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K
    (12 votes)
  • 71%
    Colson Montgomery: 2-for-3, BB, RBI, K
    (32 votes)
  • 2%
    Colby Smelley: 1-for-2, R, 2 BB, LOB, 1-for-1 CS
    (1 vote)
  • 0%
    Benyamín Bailey: 0-for-1, 2 BB, R, LOB
    (0 votes)
45 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Cold Cat of Kanny’s 5-3 defeat to the Pelicans?

This poll is closed

  • 71%
    Bowen Plagge: 1 1⁄3 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 2 WP, HOLD, LOSS
    (23 votes)
  • 0%
    Angel Acevedo: 1 2⁄3 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 WP, BS
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Wes Kath: 1-for-5, 2B, 2 K, 4 LOB
    (0 votes)
  • 28%
    DJ Gladney: 0-for-4, 2 K, 7 LOB
    (9 votes)
32 votes total Vote Now

Last and honestly least, because it was just a seven-inning game in an abridged season, so why bother with playing on Wednesdays, DSL? Anyway, eight unanswered runs from the Padres turned a 5-0 White Sox lead into a runaway loss. The Sox pitching: not good. And in a twist, neither hitting hero was named Chapelli or Hernández, as shortstop Guillermo Rodríguez, just 17, went ham on San Diego, a 2-for-4 day with a three-run homer. And of course Godwin Bennett snuck into the mix, hitting just .250 but when he hits, it flies, another home run, uh-huh, four in 14 games early on, OPS 1.085 YUM.

Poll

The DSL played seven innings, lost, and has just one MVP.

This poll is closed

  • 8%
    Godwin Bennett: 2-for-4, R, HR, RBI, 2 K, 4 LOB
    (2 votes)
  • 80%
    Guillermo Rodríguez: 2-for-4, 3 RBI, HR, R, 3 LOB
    (20 votes)
  • 12%
    Erick Hernández: 2-for-4, R, 2 K, 4 LOB, CF assist to 3B, E
    (3 votes)
25 votes total Vote Now

Poll

The DSL played seven innings, lost, and has just one Cold Cat.

This poll is closed

  • 80%
    Frankeli Arias: 4 IP, 7 H, 6 R/3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, HR, LOSS
    (17 votes)
  • 14%
    Francisco Benitez: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, HR
    (3 votes)
  • 4%
    Cesar D’Oleo: 0-for-3, BB, 2 K, 2 LOB, doubleplus cool name
    (1 vote)
21 votes total Vote Now

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