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White Sox Minor League Update: August 6, 2022

Yoelqui Céspedes hits two homers, while Jake Burger and Romy González hit one apiece

By Darren Black
/ new
Yoelqui Céspedes brought some power to the field on Saturday.
Tiffany Wintz/South Side Sox

A big win for the Knights came with a lot of help from Jake Burger. He went 2-for-4 today and hit his fifth Triple-A homer.

Mark Payton and Blake Rutherford had two hits as well today. Payton showed some power today like Burger, his was a solo shot in the fifth inning, No. 14 on the season. Everyone in the lineup got on base at least once today, so the runs were plentiful.

On the pitching side, it was not a bullpen day like normal, but Kyle Kubat was not exactly good in his 4 1⁄3 innings. He allowed three runs, did not have great command, and allowed two homers. The true good story was with the bullpen in their 4 2⁄3 innings of work.

Poll

Who was the Knights MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 96%
    Jake Burger: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K
    (60 votes)
  • 3%
    Mark Payton: 2-for-5, 1 HR, 3 R, 0 BB, 2 K
    (2 votes)
62 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Knights Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 80%
    Kyle Kubat: 4 1⁄3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K
    (38 votes)
  • 19%
    Yolbert Sánchez: 1-for-4, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K
    (9 votes)
47 votes total Vote Now

A tied game after nine innings ended with the Barons self-destructing in the 10th and losing by five. Still, the Barons brought the bats, especially Yoelqui Céspedes. He hit not one:

but two homers today.

It was a big power day for the Barons, which makes the loss hurt that much more. Craig Dedelow had a grand slam. Who loses when they hit grand slams? Evan Skoug hit a 440-foot bomb as well, his eighth homer of the season. Unfortunately, Oscar Colás went hitless today.

Clearly, the pitching was terrible for Birmingham. It started with Emilio Vargas, who allowed five runs (four earned), and ended with Kaleb Roper and six runs (including one zombie runner) in the 10th to lose the game. Yoelvin Silven allowed three in the sixth as well, so the pen wasn’t fantastic in the middle, either.

Poll

Who was the Barons MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 4%
    Craig Dedelow: 1-for-3, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
    (3 votes)
  • 95%
    Yoelqui Céspedes: 3-for-4, 2 HR, 1 BB, 1 K
    (62 votes)
65 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Barons Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 23%
    Emilio Vargas: 5 IP, 4 ER (5 R), 6 H, 4 BB, 7 K
    (12 votes)
  • 1%
    Yoelvin Silven: 1 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 1 K
    (1 vote)
  • 74%
    Kaleb Roper: 1 IP, 5 ER (6 R), 5 H, 0 BB, 0 K
    (38 votes)
51 votes total Vote Now

Almost no offense to speak of is going to be a recipe for a loss, and that’s what happened for the Dash. Somehow, just one run happened despite the first three batters in the lineup each having two hits. Duke Ellis, Colson Montgomery, and Bryan Ramos came away with those six hits. Luis Mieses had his 33rd double of the year, but again, just one run came from all of that.

On the pitching side, the star was Cristian Mena, well, among the prospects. He has struggled in High-A but was all right today. He allowed three runs, and two were earned so it was one of his better outings. The command was good, which is something that has not been up to snuff in the latter half of his season. It is Mena’s first full season as a pro, so some fatigue should be expected, to an extent. However, one walk and seven strikeouts are very good. The bullpen was much better though, combining for three scoreless innings and four strikeouts.

Poll

Who was the Dash MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 0%
    Duke Ellis: 2-for-4, 0 BB, 1 K
    (0 votes)
  • 25%
    Colson Montgomery: 2-for-4, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K
    (14 votes)
  • 20%
    Bryan Ramos: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (11 votes)
  • 53%
    Cristian Mena: 5 IP, 2 ER (3 R), 5 H, 1 BB, 7 K
    (29 votes)
54 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Dash Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 97%
    Ben Norman: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 2 K
    (39 votes)
  • 2%
    Harvin Mendoza: 0-for-3, 0 BB, 0 K
    (1 vote)
40 votes total Vote Now

It was a rough one for Kannapolis, and in particular, its pitching. The staff allowed nine runs over 15 hits and just four strikeouts. They did not walk a batter, but that’s because opposing batters already hit the ball, no chance to walk guys already on with a hit. Hunter Dollander started and was pulled after just five outs, with three runs allowed. Rigo Fernández replaced Dollander and was fine with two runs allowed, but Jesus Valles blew the game wide open in his stint: He allowed four runs over the seventh and eighth innings.

It is not easy to combat that kind of pitching, and the Cannon Ballers were not close to doing so. Johnabiell Laureno was the only batter with multiple hits today, with two. Nobody else even reached base twice. Wes Kath walked and struck out twice, while DJ Gladney drove in two of the three Kannapolis runs on his 1-for-3 night.

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 77%
    DJ Gladney: 1-for-3, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (27 votes)
  • 22%
    Johnabiell Laureno: 2-for-4, 0 BB, 2 K
    (8 votes)
35 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 75%
    Hunter Dollander: 1 2⁄3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 1 K
    (25 votes)
  • 9%
    Jesus Valles: 3 1⁄3 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 1 K
    (3 votes)
  • 15%
    Brandon Bossard: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 3 K
    (5 votes)
33 votes total Vote Now

No DSL Sox game, so the lowest level today is the ACL, and they beat the Dodgers, 5-3. There were no 2022 draft class representatives in today's game, which is a bit weird. You would think, with 30 signings, they would be in the system by now, but the Sox seem to be slow-playing it. Even though they only took one high-schooler, no 2022 draftees at all in a game is just a very weird situation. A draftees-only field trip? Maybe MLB shouldn’t have downsized the minors, so the Sox would still have the Great Falls Voyagers to populate, and drafted players could actually play.

To the game though, and let’s start with Dylan Burns. He started the game and went six strong innings. He only allowed one run off the back of zero walks and six strikeouts, not too shabby. Erick Bello did make the game too close for comfort, but overall, the pitching was stellar. I assume this is Romy González’s last game in the ACL; he hit his fourth homer there today. The ACL is off Sunday, and the rest of the minors are off Monday, so expect to see him somewhere else on Tuesday. Where? Probably Alabama or North Carolina (that’s where the full-season MiLB teams are). Cameron Butler. Alvaro Aguero, and Jayson González led the ACL Sox with two hits each today, and all six were singles.

Poll

Who was the ACL Sox MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 8%
    Romy González: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K
    (3 votes)
  • 5%
    Cameron Butler: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
    (2 votes)
  • 86%
    Dylan Burns: 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 K
    (31 votes)
36 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the ACL Sox Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 91%
    Ruben Benavides: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 3 K
    (22 votes)
  • 8%
    Erick Bello: 1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 K
    (2 votes)
24 votes total Vote Now

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