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White Sox Minor League Update: August 20, 2022

José Rodríguez homers, again, the draft class takes over the ACL, and Carlos Pérez gets through the Knights game healthy, so see you in MLB soon

By Darren Black
/ new
José Rodríguez hit another home run — but also left the game after a tweaked muscle during an at-bat later in the game.
Birmingham Barons

Whoa! A Charlotte win, and a close one at that, as the Knights needed all of their four hits to get their four runs. Even then, they almost gave it away in the ninth. Charlotte rode three homers to victory, and they accounted for all four of its runs. Yeah, four total hits with three of them homers — pretty succinct, and powerful.

The first was a two-run homer from Mark Payton.

The second was a MOON SHOT from Micker Adolfo.

The third and final, from Lenyn Sosa, on a ball he absolutely crushed to center.

That’s two in two days since his return to Triple-A.

On the pitching side, the first four innings is where the arms struggled. Tobias Myers and Tanner Banks each allowed a run in their two innings of work. From the fifth through the eighth, the bullpen settled things down for those homers to put Charlotte in front: Kade McClure was great over his two innings with three strikeouts, and Dan Winkler and Declan Cronin continued the successes in the seventh and eighth. Where it got a little tricky is Bennett Sousa in the ninth. He allowed a solo homer to make it a one-run game, but he was able to settle down after that for his fifth save of the year in Triple-A.

Carlos Pérez was not going to get a mention but because of the Grandal injury, but with that injury Pérez is going to MLB — he’s the next-best catcher in the system, and after him it is pretty thin.

Poll

Who was the Knights MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 36%
    Lenyn Sosa: 1-for-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 K
    (14 votes)
  • 28%
    Mark Payton: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K
    (11 votes)
  • 15%
    Micker Adolfo: 1-for-3, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
    (6 votes)
  • 18%
    Kade McClure: 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K
    (7 votes)
38 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Knights Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 3%
    Bennett Sousa: 1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K
    (1 vote)
  • 15%
    Jake Burger: 0-for-3, 0 BB, 1 K
    (4 votes)
  • 80%
    Adam Haseley: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 0 K
    (21 votes)
26 votes total Vote Now

This was a rain-shortened game with a lot of offense, for Birmingham at least, and that is a good thing. Matthew Thompson started for the Barons, and did not get far. He threw 61 pitches in just two innings, so he was pulled. It was not a great outing, with two runs allowed and a couple of walks, too, but five strikeouts is fun. After Thompson, the pen was great for the next five innings. Yoelvin Silven went the next two with no runs and four strikeouts. Caleb Freeman got into the game as well, and while he struggled with command, two timely strikeouts settled things down.

José Rodríguez had another good night with a homer, now his 11th in Double-A. He was lifted after two plate appearances; he tweaked something on a swing, finished off the at-bat, and then left the game. There is no specific update on his injury just yet. He and a few others led the team with two hits, as nobody had three or more.

Moises Castillo had a homer, too, along with Raudy Read. Oscar Colás had two hits as well to just barely keep his OPS better than ... 1.000.

Poll

Who was the Barons MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 19%
    José Rodríguez: 2-for-2. 1 HR, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K
    (9 votes)
  • 80%
    Moises Castillo: 2-for-2, 1 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 0 K
    (37 votes)
46 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Barons Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 53%
    Ivan Gonzalez: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 1 K
    (16 votes)
  • 43%
    Matthew Thompson: 2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K
    (13 votes)
  • 3%
    Fraser Ellard: 1 2⁄3 IP. 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K
    (1 vote)
30 votes total Vote Now

It was the worst start of Norge Vera’s career in the White Sox organization, as he was only able to get four outs while allowing three runs and walking four. His command was off, with 26 strikes compared with 22 balls, so it was never going to be a good outing with numbers like that. His replacement, Cooper Bradford, did not help matters, either. While he did not have command struggles, Bradford just got hit around and allowed three runs in five outs, — so an out better than Vera.

The offense wasn’t much, with just four runs over four hits and four walks (seems there is a pattern there). Adam Hackenberg led the team with two hits, which is also half the hits in the nine-man lineup. Duke Ellis reached base twice and stole a couple of bases — maybe if he would have reached thrice, he could have reached 50 stolen bases already on the year, but he had to settle for 49 so far. Colson Montgomery and Bryan Ramos did not reach base today, though Montgomery still had an RBI.

Poll

Who was the Dash MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 80%
    Adam Hackenberg: 2-for-3, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K
    (24 votes)
  • 20%
    Duke Ellis: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 2 SB
    (6 votes)
30 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Dash Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 78%
    Norge Vera: 1 1⁄3 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 3 K
    (22 votes)
  • 21%
    Cooper Bradford: 1 2⁄3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 K
    (6 votes)
28 votes total Vote Now

Kannapolis got out to an early lead, and the pitching was able to hold it while the offense added on. The Cannon Ballers only needed two pitchers get through nine innings. The starter, Hunter Dollander, took the first six effectively. He was not overpowering (two strikeouts) and he didn’t rely on ground outs, either, he just got outs any way he could to get the job done. Bowen Plagge took the final three frames, for the nine-out save. Again, not strikeout-heavy (one) but Plagge was able to get his third save of the season anyway.

The offense had hits galore, from seven of the nine batters: 12 is pretty good, but 12 strikeouts also put a damper on any added damage. Thankfully, it wasn’t needed. Wilfred Veras by far and away had the best day. He went 4-for-4 with two doubles. His next double will be his 20th of the year. Benyamín Bailey was right behind him, with a solo homer in the sixth, his sixth homer of the year. No 2022 draftees appeared today, but hopefully soon. It would be nice to see Veras and Wes Kath take on High-A pitching.

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 66%
    Wilfred Veras: 4-for-4, 1 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (22 votes)
  • 0%
    Benyamín Bailey: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 0 BB, 2 K
    (0 votes)
  • 33%
    Hunter Dollander: 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K
    (11 votes)
33 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 0%
    Samil Polanco: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 1 K
    (0 votes)
  • 100%
    Logan Glass: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 2 K
    (25 votes)
25 votes total Vote Now

We are in the thick of it down in Arizona, yes, it is draft class (with some UDFA) galore in the ACL now for the Sox. A 2021 draft pick, Christian Edwards, started the bullpen game, but Shane Murphy took over after two innings. He allowed the first run of the game, but set the stage for a few draftees to get in. Eric Adler came in after Murphy and struggled with command, getting one out compared to two walks. Kole Ramage had a better outing this time out, still walked a guy, but two strikeouts helped keep anything from getting worse. Jacob Palisch kept his scoreless streak going to three innings with three up and three down, all via strikeout. Drew McDaniel struggled today, getting hit around in his inning. Finally, making his professional debut, Jonathan Cannon got the save. The third-round pick is firmly in the Top 30 Sox prospects, and hopefully will see some time in Kannapolis before the season is done.

On offense, the 2022 class was just as important. Brooks Baldwin went 3-for-4 with a walk in what was his best day yet as a professional hitter.. Chris Lanzilli had a couple of hits including his first pro homer, a three-run shot in the sixth to give the ACL Sox the lead. Those were the best of the bunch today, but Matt Archer, Tim Elko, and Troy Claunch all had hits today as well.

Poll

Who was the ACL Sox MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 44%
    Brooks Baldwin: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K
    (13 votes)
  • 51%
    Chris Lanzilli: 2-for-4, 1 HR 3 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (15 votes)
  • 3%
    Christian Edwards: 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K
    (1 vote)
29 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the ACL Sox Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 52%
    Eric Adler: 1⁄3 IP, 1 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 1 K
    (11 votes)
  • 14%
    Drew McDaniel: 1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K
    (3 votes)
  • 33%
    Jayson Gonzalez: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K
    (7 votes)
21 votes total Vote Now

The DSL Sox lineup carries the team to victory with their bats. The team also had four errors, so the defense wasn’t up to snuff, but the bats were pretty good. As a team, they had 14 hits, and two of those were homers. One was by Godwin Bennett; he is crushing the ball right now and went 3-for-5 today — now even passing the very strong Loidel Chapelli Jr. for the club lead in OPS. The other was a pinch-hit grand slam from Ronny Hernandez. Not too shabby of an only at-bat for the catcher. His grand slam was a part of an eight-run eighth to put the DSL Sox on top. Carlos Jimenez had a pretty good day, too, tying in hits on the day with three. His were all singles, though.

For the top prospects, Ryan Burrowes and Chapelli played today. Chapelli had a pedestrian day compared to most of the lineup, with one hit and a walk. Burrowes was a bit more active, reaching base three times and stealing a base on two of those occasions.

The pitching, especially the bullpen, was less than stellar. Gabriel Rodriguez was fine in his five-inning start. He allowed four runs (bad) but he struck out nine, which is pretty good. The pen allowed five runs after that, three were unearned, so not totally its fault.

Poll

Who was the DSL Sox MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 11%
    Ronny Hernandez: 1-for-1, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (3 votes)
  • 0%
    Carlos Jimenez: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K
    (0 votes)
  • 88%
    Godwin Bennett: 3-for-5, 1 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (23 votes)
26 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the DSL Sox Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 26%
    Gabriel Rodriguez: 5 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 9 K
    (5 votes)
  • 31%
    Fernando Vargas: 1 2⁄3 IP, 0 ER (3 R), 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 Error
    (6 votes)
  • 42%
    Halan Dishmey: 1 1⁄3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K
    (8 votes)
19 votes total Vote Now

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