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Wilber Sánchez was not the top player of today’s games, but he is the top player among those we have unused 2023 photos of.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

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White Sox Minor League Update: April 22, 2023

A nail-biter for Bham, a blowout in Kannapolis, a split for Charlotte ... is this system getting stronger?!

By Brett Ballantini
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The Charlotte Knights were washed out on Friday night, so it’s 14 innings of doubleheader action today.

Opener

A (sort of) tough-luck loss for Jesse Scholtens in the opener, as he came within one out of a (doubleheader) complete (losing) game, running up eight strikeouts against two walks in the process. While Charlotte isn’t exactly pushing its starters to go six, or even five, or sometimes even four innings, hey, slight cap-tip to the White Sox front office for even bringing in “enough” starters to avoid bullpenning every other game like last season.

The offense put balls in play (just four Ks and four walks), but 2-for-9 RISP and seven left on in seven innings of play doesn’t get it done. Three extra-base hits of six total is encouraging, but not cashing in on more opportunities is not.

But hey, Yolbert Sánchez, in spite of hitting just .222 (.503 OPS) in the early going, ran his streak of RBI games to six, so that’s something:

Poll

Who was Charlotte’s MVP in the opener on Saturday?

This poll is closed

  • 60%
    Yolbert Sánchez: 1-for-3, RBI, K, LOB, six-game RBI streak
    (17 votes)
  • 25%
    Zach Remillard: 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB, GIDP, 2 LOB
    (7 votes)
  • 7%
    Erik González: 1-for-2, BB, LOB
    (2 votes)
  • 7%
    Jake Marisnick: 1-for-3, 3B, R, K, 2 LOB
    (2 votes)
28 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who failed in the doubleheader opener for the Knights on Saturday and therefore must wear the Cold Cat collar?

This poll is closed

  • 69%
    Victor Reyes: 0-for-4, 3 LOB
    (18 votes)
  • 30%
    Nicholas Padilla: 1⁄3 IP, H, ER, HR
    (8 votes)
26 votes total Vote Now

Nightcap

With this runaway nightcap win, the Knights improve to 9-11 and seriously, with the way the team has played since ... I’ve been running South Side Sox (?), a .450 winning percentage seems like .667. We’ve spent a lot of time wailing about the Knights and how ill-equipped they’ve been as a staging club for the South Side, but this start has been nice to see.

A fun game all around, with Garrett Davila back up from Birmingham and throwing four solid on the front end, and Lane Ramsey (looking like a no-brainer, next-up bullpen piece for the Big Club) closing it down at the end. Someone help me out as to why Ramsey was awarded this win? A five-inning start rule, if it even exists any longer in MiLB, wouldn’t apply to a seven-inning doubleheader. Scorer’s discretion gives Lane Ramsey the win, because there was no save? It seems clear Davila should have been given that win.

Anyway, on offense, let’s get this bit of hilarity out of the way, as Sánchez went 1-for-3 to shoot his average up to .227, then added a walk to push that OPS to .530! On the walk, yep, Yolbert extended his RBI streak to seven games:

The big blow in a game that saw eight runs cross the plate but no single hit more prodigious than a double was Nate Mondou’s bases-emptying double in the fifth, which closed out Knights scoring and pushed their lead to 8-1:

Poll

Who was the Knights MVP in the nightcap win?

This poll is closed

  • 10%
    Nate Mondou: 1-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 LOB
    (3 votes)
  • 32%
    Erik González: 2-for-3, 2B, 3 R, BB, SB
    (9 votes)
  • 21%
    Sebastian Rivero: 2-for-4, 2B, R, 3 RBI, LOB
    (6 votes)
  • 3%
    Jake Marisnick: 0-for-1, 3 BB, SB
    (1 vote)
  • 0%
    Lane Ramsey: IP, H, 2 K, WIN
    (0 votes)
  • 32%
    Garrett Davila: 4 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 2 K
    (9 votes)
28 votes total Vote Now

Poll

There are Cold Cats, even in a win. Who was it in the Charlotte nightcap?

This poll is closed

  • 19%
    Laz Rivera: 0-for-3, BB, K, 4 LOB
    (5 votes)
  • 7%
    Billy Hamilton: 0-for-3, R, BB, 4 LOB
    (2 votes)
  • 26%
    Sammy Peralta: IP, 4 H, 2 ER, K
    (7 votes)
  • 46%
    Lincoln Henzman: IP, 3 H, 2 ER
    (12 votes)
26 votes total Vote Now

Birmingham

On a night of apparent three-run doubles in the White Sox system, Moisés Castillo provided all of the run support Barons pitching needed, with one swing of the bat in the fifth:

It was also a night of pitch selectivity in the system, as Birmingham made up for cracking just five hits by adding seven walks (to just five Ks). Am I writing a little loud because I’m getting a little excited about White Sox minors for the first time ever?

Continuing the excitement, 20-year-old Cristian Mena had his best start of the season, going six innings (!) with just six hits and two earned, while striking out six. It is almost without question that Mena is now No. 7 on the starter depth chart for the White Sox, behind only Davis Martin in Charlotte among all affiliate starters.

Another big of good news, although Caleb Freeman created some traffic for himself in a nail-biting ninth, he whiffed Blue Wahoos for all three of his outs in the frame to secure the save.

Poll

Whatta game in Pensacola, who’s your Barons MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 75%
    Cristian Mena: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 6 K, WIN
    (24 votes)
  • 0%
    Caleb Freeman: 1 1⁄3 IP, H, 2 BB, 3 K, SAVE
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Gil Luna Jr.: 1 2⁄3 IP, H, HOLD
    (0 votes)
  • 25%
    Moisés Castillo: 1-for-2, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB
    (8 votes)
32 votes total Vote Now

Poll

The Cold Cat for Saturday is definitely a hitter. Who is it?

This poll is closed

  • 65%
    Taylor Snyder: 0-for-4, R, 4 LOB
    (17 votes)
  • 34%
    Yoelqui Céspedes: 0-for-3, BB, K, LOB, CS
    (9 votes)
26 votes total Vote Now

Well, the best affiliate so far this season was the only one who passed through this day without a win. And put this one on the middle relief, as Haylen Green and Ernest Jaquez teamed up for 2 2⁄3 IP, six hits, eight earned runs, four walks, a wild pitch, a K and two homers. The pair wasted another really great start by Tommy Sommer, who threw four hitless (three walks) innings, and seven of his 12 outs came by K. For a guy who doesn’t throw hard, the southpaw induces whiffs.

The bats were active but inefficient, going a seemingly-impossible 2-for-17 with RISP. Alsander Womack had two hits, and Michael Turner did him one better by having both of his hits be doubles. Wilfred Veras, while taking a rare night off from clocking balls over the fence, stole two bases in the game, second and third in succession. Power and speed? Yum.

Poll

A loss for Kanny doesn’t take the MVP away. Who was it on Saturday?

This poll is closed

  • 51%
    Tommy Sommer: 4 IP, 3 BB, 7 K
    (16 votes)
  • 16%
    Austin Palisch: 1 1⁄3 IP, K
    (5 votes)
  • 32%
    Michael Turner: 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 2B, BB, LOB
    (10 votes)
31 votes total Vote Now

Poll

A rare loss for W-S means there are Cold Cat candidates! Who do you choose?

This poll is closed

  • 72%
    Haylen Green: IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, K, HR, LOSS
    (16 votes)
  • 18%
    Ernesto Jaquez: 1 2⁄3 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, HR
    (4 votes)
  • 4%
    Chris Lanzilli: 0-for-4, K, 4 LOB
    (1 vote)
  • 4%
    Shawn Goosenberg: 0-for-4, 3 LOB
    (1 vote)
22 votes total Vote Now

And we wrap things up with the most fun game of the night, as Kanny turned the tables on the past few rough years and forced a position player pitcher for the opposition for a change. In fact, this might be the most perfect game I’ve ever witnessed from Low-A over six years of writing these updates. The pitching was perfect, and hey, 15 runs on offense, please.

The bulk of the offense came from the No. 1-4 batters, topped by leadoff man Mario Camilletti, who reached base all six times he was up today: one single, five walks. For perspective, just six White Sox players over 123 years of team history have walked five times in a game, including Frank Thomas, Dick Allen, Minnie Miñoso and Jim Thome. And the big hit came from Luis Pineda, who clocked a three-run shot to jump-start the rout:

Tim Elko, who one minors writer/dummy (no names) thinks has a hole in his swing (and to be fair ... OK, it’s me ... Elko Ks a TON), has his average up to .407 and OPS to a Loidel Chapelli Jr.-esque 1.169.

Tyler Schweitzer keeps on keeping on, getting his second win this year by throwing an imperfect but got-the-job-done five innings. And the pen behind him squelched things but good.

Poll

Just TRY to pick an MVP from Kannapolis’ rout.

This poll is closed

  • 38%
    Mario Camilletti: 1-for-1, 5 BB, 4 R
    (12 votes)
  • 0%
    Brooks Baldwin: 2-for-5, R, 3 RBI, 2B, BB, 2 K, 4 LOB
    (0 votes)
  • 12%
    Tim Elko: 2-for-5, R, 2 RBI, BB, K, 3 LOB
    (4 votes)
  • 25%
    Luis Pineda: 2-for-4, 2 R, HR, 4 RBI, BB, K, LOB, PB
    (8 votes)
  • 9%
    Wilber Sánchez: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB, 2 K, 2 LOB
    (3 votes)
  • 6%
    Tyler Schweitzer: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R/2 ER, BB, 4 K, 2 E, WIN
    (2 votes)
  • 3%
    Emerson Talavera: 2 IP, H, 3 K
    (1 vote)
  • 3%
    Pauly Milto: IP, 2 K
    (1 vote)
31 votes total Vote Now

Poll

There can in fact be a Cold Cat in a 15-3 win. Right?

This poll is closed

  • 65%
    Layant Tapia: 0-for-6, K, 10 LOB
    (17 votes)
  • 34%
    Sorry Layant, it’s you.
    (9 votes)
26 votes total Vote Now
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