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GLENDALE, AZ - MARCH 21, 2022: Luis Mieses #95 of the Chicago White Sox bats during the eighth inning of an MLB spring training game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Camelback Ranch on March 21, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by David Durochik/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
Luis Mieses led the charge, such as it was, with three hits (two doubles).
David Durochik/Diamond Images via Getty Images

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White Sox Minor League Update: April 7, 2023

The sole winners today were the Dash, who were rained out

By Julie Brady
/ new
Knights/Clippers linescore
Batting stats
Pitching stats

Box score link

The Knights have already had a game rained out this year, making Friday the season’s inaugural doubleheader. Unfortunately, they forgot to tell their bats about the earlier start time, and fell 4-0 to the Clippers in seven innings, mustering just five hits (all singles). The team was 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Their second-best chance came in the fifth, Yolbert Sánchez and Victor Reyes both singling to open the inning, but first and second is where they stayed. Their first-best chance was when Adam Haseley singled to open the sixth and Lenyn Sosa walked, then a Carlos Pérez ground out advanced them both a base, where, again, they would stay.

It’s unclear exactly what the pitching prognosis is for John Parke, Chicago’s 21st Round pick back in 2017. With the overwhelming majority of his appearances as a starter, Parke pitched decently through the minors until reaching the Knights last year, when he put up the worst ERA of his career by over two runs. While he has pitched relatively more out of the bullpen over the last couple seasons (five times), it’s still a little strange to see him used as an opener in this game, instead of a traditional starting role. There is a chance, with a full 67% of last year’s Charlotte starts featuring openers, the Knights have completely forgotten they are allowed to use actual “starting pitchers” in baseball games. In any event, Parke struck out two in a scoreless first.

Sammy Peralta handled the bulk of the pitching duties instead, filling up his stat line with four hits, three runs, and two walks over three innings, striking out two and yoked with the loss. He also suffered the ignominy of balking with the bases loaded. Declan Cronin struck out two in a scoreless fifth, and Franklin German was nearly the victim of an inside-the-park home run, personally sidestepping that ignominy by tagging the greedy hitter out at the plate.

Zack Collins did score on that play; Collins went 2-for-3 with a double and after six games—22 at-bats—had a .455/.520/.773 line, definitely an intentional area code diss.

Poll

Who was the Knights Game 1 MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 11%
    Adam Haseley (CF): 1-for-3, K
    (3 votes)
  • 88%
    Lenyn Sosa (2B): 1-for-2, BB, K
    (23 votes)
  • 0%
    Yolbert Sánchez (3B): 1-for-3, K
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Victor Reyes (LF): 1-for-3, 2 K
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Jake Marisnick (RF): 1-for-3, K
    (0 votes)
26 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Knights Game 1 Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 4%
    Carlos Pérez (C): 0-for-3
    (1 vote)
  • 4%
    Zach Remillard (1B): 0-for-3
    (1 vote)
  • 4%
    Evan Skoug (DH): 0-for-3, K
    (1 vote)
  • 0%
    Erik González (SS): 0-for-3, K
    (0 votes)
  • 86%
    Sammy Peralta: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 K, balk
    (20 votes)
23 votes total Vote Now
Knights/Clippers game 2 linescore
Batting stats
Pitching stats
Pitching misc

Box score link

The nightcap did not go quite so well. A more negative albeit premature read on this game would be to acknowledge that the Cleveland minors is slightly stronger than Chicago’s. But as we are choosing not to be negative even in the face of two losses tonight in which the Knights tallied zero runs on 10 hits, let’s instead just say that Konnor Pilkington threw four shutout innings of one-hit ball, walking four and striking out three, and Collins went hitless this time, but still drew three walks and scored two runs. His slash line has shifted to .417/.533/.708. Both players are still no longer with the Sox.

A.J. Alexy was Charlotte’s starting pitcher, making his Sox debut after an offseason waiver claim from the Twins, and he held the Clippers hitless in his four-out appearance. He departed in the second with the bases loaded via walk, after also loading the bases via walk in the first and walking in a run; he threw 53 laborious pitches, 20 for strikes. Thanks, Twins!

Andrew Pérez came on in relief and quickly escaped the bases-loaded situation by having Bo Naylor hit a bases-clearing double, putting Alexy’s final stats at four runs allowed on seven walks. Pérez was not much sharper himself; he also pitched the third inning, walking three, hitting one with a pitch, and allowing a double and two singles for five total runs (Knights trail 9-0). On the positive side, again, 24 of Pérez’s 49 pitches were strikes.

JB Olson pitched a mercifully-scoreless fourth, the only scoreless frame of this mercifully innings-limited game for the Clippers. He was not so spared in the fifth inning, which took a downturn with five of the first six batters reaching on a fun combination of walks, singles, and a double; he threw 29 of 48 pitches for strikes.

At that point, trailing 11-0 with two innings of an away game left to play, the Knights appear to have seen the writing on the wall and ceded the game designated hitter, as third baseman Laz Rivera took over on the mound. While he did give up a two-run single and three-run bomb, he also induced a line out for the third out of the fifth, a seven-run frame for Columbus (Knights trail 16-0).

Rivera also pitched the sixth, allowing two hits and a sacrifice fly for another run, but overall came away with perhaps the least-worst stat line among Knights pitchers (plus 18 of 22 pitches for strikes! Let’s not examine why). Some say the Knights trail 17-0 to this day. The Clippers had 11 hits and walked 12 times.

The Knights, obviously, did not score. Lenyn Sosa walked twice and doubled and is batting .455/.556/.864 over 22 at-bats. Erik González was the only other batter to reach more than once, doubling and singling.

Through seven games, the Knights have scored 21 runs (third-to-last in the 20-team International League) and allowed 45 (third-most). The Triple-A affiliate is not required to follow the lead of its parent club, but that is a memo yet read in the Charlotte clubhouse.

Never have two teams needed one Hanser Alberto more.

Poll

Who was the Knights Game 2 Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 79%
    Lenyn Sosa (2B): 1-for-1, 2B, 2 BB
    (19 votes)
  • 0%
    Sebastian Rivero (C): 1-for-3, K
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Jake Marisnick (RF): 1-for-3, 2 K, SB, outfield assist victim (home)
    (0 votes)
  • 8%
    Erik González (SS): 2-for-3, K, 2B
    (2 votes)
  • 12%
    Laz Rivera (3B/P): 0-for-2, BB, K; 1 ⅓ IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 0 K
    (3 votes)
24 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Knights Game 2 Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 0%
    Adam Haseley (CF): 0-for-3, 2 K
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Carlos Pérez (1B): 0-for-2, BB, GIDP
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Zach Remillard (DH/3B): 0-for-3, K
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Victor Reyes (LF): 0-for-3, K, GIDP, E
    (0 votes)
  • 43%
    A.J. Alexy: 1 ⅓ IP, 0 H, 4 R, 7 BB, K, WP (L)
    (10 votes)
  • 56%
    Andrew Pérez: 1 ⅔ IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 BB, K, HBP, 3-of-3 inherited runners scored
    (13 votes)
  • 0%
    JB Olson: 1 ⅔, 3 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K
    (0 votes)
23 votes total Vote Now
Barons/Smokies linescore
Batting stats
Pitching stats
Pitching misc stats

Box score link

There’s losing games, there’s blowing games, and there’s whatever this was. Above all else, it’s a good reminder that the minor leagues are a very stupid place, at any level.

The Barons went first with a golden fourth inning, scoring four: with one out, Luis Mieses singled and was swapped via force out with Yoelqui Céspedes. Offseason signing Taylor Snyder reached on error, Céspedes stole third, and Tyler Osik hit his first double of the year to knock them both in. Still with one out, first baseman Chris Shaw walked, putting runners on first and second for Xavier Fernández and Tyler Neslony to score with singles.

Leading 4-0 in the fifth, Mieses, who led the Sox minors in doubles last year, hit his first of the season, quickly coming around to score on Céspedes’ first bomb. (Mieses followed this up with his second double the next inning.)

On the mound, Matt Thompson, still just 22 years old, made his season debut. He pitched well for his first four innings of work, taking that 6-0 lead to the bottom of the fifth, where a single, wild pitch, and walk took him out in favor of Vince Vannelle.

The Smokies hit a pair of doubles to score both of Thompson’s runs and one of Vannelle’s own, cutting the Barons lead in half, to 6-3. Vannelle pitched around a single to strike out the side swinging, unless you’re a purist, in the sixth.

Luke Shilling, who only got into limited game action near the end of last season after missing most of 2021 to Tommy John, continued to struggle with post-surgery control and contact issues during his zero-out appearance. Entering to open the seventh, he hit Pete Crow-Armstrong with a pitch, then walked the next two batters on nine pitches. A two-run single making it a one-run game, at 6-5, was enough for Shilling to get the hook with an infinite ERA, and Nick Gallagher was able to coax his outfielders into a double play, Céspedes in center to Shaw at first.

The Barons got some breathing room in the top of the eighth thanks to Neslony, who went deep as he continued to prove for what seems like the fifth straight season that he is too good for Double-A. (Last year, in 64 games with Birmingham, he hit .326/.404/.578. The year before, in 40 games, it was .355/.444/.678. After a cold first nine games with the Knights halfway through 2022, his first time at the level, he batted .344/.394/.508 over 18 games for the rest of the year.)

Moisés Castillo beat out an infield single and Rodríguez reached on error right behind him, both taking a base on a wild pitch. Castillo scored on a sacrifice fly, putting the Barons up 8-5. Rodríguez tried to add to that lead from his station at third base, but was instead picked off and caught stealing home for a big second out of the inning, which ended shortly thereafter.

One more Barons run would score in the ninth, Shaw with a walk and Neslony’s aura causing a two-base error. Birmingham started the bottom of the ninth with a comfortable 9-5 lead.

Yoelvín Silven, who had a 7.71 ERA in 46 ⅔ innings with the team last year, struck out the first batter faced, walked the next, gave up a single, then walked another, loading the bases. After a strikeout, a single scored two runs (9-7, Barons), then catcher Pablo Aliendo, playing his first game at the Double-A level, walked it off with a two-run shot.

Poll

Who was the Barons MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 65%
    Luis Mieses (RF): 3-for-4, 2 2B, SF, GIDP
    (15 votes)
  • 13%
    Yoelqui Céspedes (CF): 1-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 K, HBP, SB, outfield assist (1B)
    (3 votes)
  • 0%
    Tyler Osik (DH): 1-for-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI, K
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Chris Shaw (1B): 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Xavier Fernández (C): 2-for-5, 2B, RBI
    (0 votes)
  • 13%
    Tyler Neslony (LF): 2-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI
    (3 votes)
  • 4%
    Matt Thompson: 4 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K, WP, pitch timer violation
    (1 vote)
  • 4%
    Nick Gallagher: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 3 K, 2-0 inherited runners-scored (H)
    (1 vote)
23 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Barons Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 0%
    Moisés Castillo (2B): 1-for-5, R, BB, 3 K, E
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    José Rodríguez (SS): 1-for-5, K, PO/CS home
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Taylor Snyder (3B): 0-for-4, R, BB, K, SB
    (0 votes)
  • 5%
    Luke Shilling: 0 IP, H, 2 R, 2 BB, 0 K, HBP
    (1 vote)
  • 95%
    Yoelvín Silven: ⅔ IP, 3 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 2 K (L)
    (19 votes)
20 votes total Vote Now

Dash play two on Saturday.

Cannon Ballers/Wood Ducks linescore
Box score link
Pitching stats
Misc pitching stats

Box score link

The Cannon Ballers are not going to repeat last year’s 4-0 record to start the season. They played a game of baseball that could have been better, in several regards.

For example, top prospect Peyton Pallette, who made his professional debut, exited the first inning already trailing 3-0, although two of those runs were unearned on a Layant Tapia error at third. The walk, double, and single were all Pallette’s own, though. Likely on a pitch limit, given the quite fresh nature of his career, he departed after two. He struck out three and walked one.

Pauly Milto, drafted in 2019 but with fewer than 50 career innings between injuries and a pandemic, tossed a scoreless third. Manuel Veloz, who was very good in a handful of outings with the Ballers last year, added a scoreless fourth and was one out away from a scoreless fifth when three singles and a walk derailed that dream and extended the Wood Ducks lead to 5-1. He is also credited with both a balk and a “disengagement violation” in the line score, but maybe that’s just the catchy new Carolina League name for a balk (I will be in the stands yelling “DISENGAGEMENT VIOLATIOOOOON” at the top of my lungs).

Anyway, Veloz gave up two more runs in the sixth for four total, putting the Ballers back, 7-1, and Frander Veras made it 10-1 by the time he was done in the seventh after a hit by pitch, single, triple, and another singe.

Kole Ramage didn’t exactly breeze through the eighth, allowing a single and making an error of his own, but he joined Milto as the only unscathed Ballers pitcher.

At the plate, Kannapolis was very, very, very quiet. Their lone run came in the fourth after back-to-back walks from Tapia and Tim Elko; Troy Claunch singled to load the bases with one out, and Bryce Willits picked up the ground out RBI. Drake Logan struck out to end the threat.

Their only other hit was a Chris Lanzilli deflected infield single in the fifth. Elko walked twice, the only Baller to reach more than once.

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 6%
    Layant Tapia (3B): 0-for-3, R, BB, 2 K, E
    (1 vote)
  • 20%
    Tim Elko (1B): 0-for-2, 2 BB, K
    (3 votes)
  • 0%
    Troy Claunch (C): 1-for-4, K, E
    (0 votes)
  • 6%
    Chris Lanzilli (LF): 1-for-3, K
    (1 vote)
  • 40%
    Pauly Milto: IP, H, 0 R, BB, K
    (6 votes)
  • 26%
    Kole Ramage: IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, E
    (4 votes)
15 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 6%
    Jordan Sprinkle (SS): 0-for-4, K
    (1 vote)
  • 0%
    Bryce Willits (DH): 0-for-4, RBI
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Drake Logan (RF): 0-for-3, 2 K
    (0 votes)
  • 56%
    Logan Glass (CF): 0-for-3, 3 K
    (9 votes)
  • 37%
    Wilber Sánchez (2B): 0-for-3, 2 K, E
    (6 votes)
16 votes total Vote Now
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