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Mason Adams has been simply magnificent for the Cannon Ballers in 2023.

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White Sox Minor League Update: July 16, 2023

Multiple losses in North Carolina, but a big win down in Birmingham thanks to an offensive explosion

By Darren Black
/ new

A low-scoring affair ends up being a Lehigh Valley blowout of Charlotte. For six innings, the two teams were tied or separated by just one run. The first bulk of arms for the Knights included Nate Fisher, Nicholas Padilla, Luke Farrell, and Alex Colomé. They brought their A-game, or close enough to it. The ending group (Ben Holmes, Lane Ramsey, and Edgar Navarro) definitely didn’t bring their best today. Each of them allowed a run, and portion of the game is right when the win probability for the Knights plummeted. However, even if the pen brought its B-game, it is tough to see how the offense would scrape together a second run.

Yolbert Sánchez was really the only good hitter today. He had three of the team’s four hits — all singles, of course. Sebastián Rivero had the other hit. That was it; a really bad day for the lineup. Yoán Moncada DHed today, and he obviously didn’t do well if he wasn’t one of the two batters with a hit. He struck out a couple of times, and went 0-for-4.

Poll

Who was the Knights MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 90%
    Yolbert Sánchez: 3-for-4, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 SB
    (28 votes)
  • 3%
    Nate Fisher: 3 2⁄3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
    (1 vote)
  • 6%
    Alex Colomé: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
    (2 votes)
31 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Knights Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 34%
    Ben Holmes: 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
    (11 votes)
  • 3%
    Lane Ramsey: 2⁄3 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
    (1 vote)
  • 0%
    Edgar Navarro: 1⁄3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Erik González: 0-for-3, 0 BB, 2 K
    (0 votes)
  • 62%
    Yoán Moncada: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 2 K
    (20 votes)
32 votes total Vote Now

Mirroring the White Sox having big Saturdays and Sundays against a far superior Atlanta Braves team, Birmingham followed suit with a big weekend of its own. It was an offensive Sunday, and a big one from jump. Every single batter had a hit, led by Xavier Fernández’s four hits to lead the team. Ben Norman and Luis Mieses were right behind, with three; for Norman, though, he had a three-run homer to his name to propel his RBI total on the day to an astounding seven.

Bryan Ramos was one of the batters to come away just with one hit — a big one though, his sixth homer of the season. He also showed some good plate discipline, with a couple of walks. Terrell Tatum, of course, walked multiple times as well (three). Funny enough, he didn’t swipe a bag or even get caught stealing despite being on base four times. José Rodríguez stole two bases, though, with both steals coming after his singles.

Now, sure, 15 runs are the eye-popping figure, but the pitching allowed justtwo runs, so it was an all-around effort. Matt Thompson worked, really hard, five innings with 90 pitches — despite a pretty inefficient outing, he somehow walked away with just two earned runs despite walking six batters. Yeah, six, not great, he only threw eight more strikes (49) than balls (41). The bullpen was much better command-wise, and just keeping guys off base in general. It was four no-hit innings, led by recent call-up Adisyn Coffey. His three innings of no hits, no walks, and no runs weren’t necessary, but it was good for this bullpen to get a much-needed blowout break.

Poll

Who was the Barons MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 5%
    Adisyn Coffey: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
    (2 votes)
  • 0%
    Bryan Ramos: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
    (0 votes)
  • 89%
    Ben Norman: 3-for-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K
    (35 votes)
  • 5%
    Xavier Fernández: 4-for-6, 2 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (2 votes)
39 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Barons Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 16%
    Moisés Castillo: 1-for-5, 0 BB, 0 K
    (6 votes)
  • 19%
    Matt Thompson: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 6 BB, 4 K
    (7 votes)
  • 63%
    Nobody. C’mon, 15-2 and you’re going to Cold Cat someone?
    (23 votes)
36 votes total Vote Now

The suspended game from yesterday finished the final five innings today and featured a slight Winston-Salem Dash comeback. I say slight because it really isn’t a comeback if they don’t at least tie the game, but a four run-eighth inning made it interesting, at least. Of course, Tim Elko was involved, and involved in a big way. One could almost call it grand.

Yep, for his next 2023 trick, Tim Elko hits a High-A grand slam. It was one of his two hits in the game. Wilfred Veras and Jacob Burke had two hits as well, a trio of very good hitters being just that. There wasn’t much beyond these three, with just three more team hits.

Yesterday, Tyler Schweitzer and Brooks Gosswein pitched. Schweitzer got bit by the unearned run bug in the third. All runs allowed that inning were unearned due to a Loidel Chapelli Jr. error. Gosswein had trouble in the fourth with just pitching in general. He threw four strikes and 16 balls for four walks, while not recording an out.

Today, the bullpen was really good. Kole Ramage had the “start” and went the first three innings. The relievers helped make the game interesting and gave the Dash a chance to win. The bats, sans Elko, couldn’t do it.

Poll

Who was the Dash MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 0%
    Kole Ramage: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
    (0 votes)
  • 3%
    Jacob Burke: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (1 vote)
  • 96%
    Tim Elko: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (29 votes)
30 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Dash Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 3%
    Tyler Schweitzer: 3 IP, 2 H, 3 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 4 K
    (1 vote)
  • 68%
    Brooks Gosswein: 0 IP, 0 H, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 0 K
    (20 votes)
  • 27%
    Wes Kath: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 3 K
    (8 votes)
29 votes total Vote Now

Game two, just a seven-inning matchup, ends with another Dash loss. The good pitching that ended game one did not cross over to this one. Connor McCullough started, and struggled out of the gate, giving up four runs in the first two innings. Chase Plymell had similar troubles, a bigger inning of struggles, and gave up the eventual game-winner in the fifth. Even Eric Adler struggled in his inning, giving up one run over two hits.

On the other hand, the offense was not as fun, but they still came up with four runs. Tim Elko settled for one measly single in the nightcap. Jacob Burke provided more offense, with a two-RBI double. On the other end of the lineup, Caberea Weaver led the team in hits with a couple of singles. He stole a base as well with along with Loidel Chapelli Jr. Colson Montgomery went hitless today, but he had three walks, so not much has changed from last year, getting on base in any way possible.

Poll

Who was the Dash MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 14%
    Jacob Burke: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K
    (4 votes)
  • 42%
    Caberea Weaver: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 SB
    (12 votes)
  • 35%
    Loidel Chapelli Jr.: 1-for-2, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 SB
    (10 votes)
  • 7%
    Colson Montgomery: 0-for-1, 3 BB, 1 K
    (2 votes)
28 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Dash Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 17%
    Michael Turner: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 1 K
    (4 votes)
  • 52%
    Connor McCullough: 4 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
    (12 votes)
  • 30%
    Chase Plymell: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
    (7 votes)
  • 0%
    Eric Adler: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
    (0 votes)
23 votes total Vote Now

A 4-0 lead slowly, but surely, is lost in route to a Fireflies victory. You can blame quite a few people on this loss. The bullpen allowed three runs in three innings after Mason Adams left. He had a really good five innings, with two runs allowed on a homer. His command was ideal, with five strikeouts compared to zero walks. The bullpen squandered that start, but it did have some help. First, an error did lead to one of the two runs Adams gave up. Another error led to an unearned run later in the game too. So, if the fielding was a bit crisper, maybe the Cannon Ballers win this thing.

To go along with some lackluster defense, the offense did not take advantage of its opportunities, going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. What they did to make up for it was homer. They had three on the day, including a couple firsts. Juan Gonzalez hit his first homer of the season today, a solo shot on his two-hit day. Mario Camilletti had a two-run home run among his two hits, the first professional bomb of his career. The first homer of the day belongs to Brooks Baldwin, though. It was the second at-bat of the game, and gave Kannapolis a lead they would lose in the seventh inning, for good.

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 26%
    Mario Camilletti: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
    (7 votes)
  • 7%
    Brooks Baldwin: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 0 K
    (2 votes)
  • 23%
    Juan Gonzalez: 2-for-3, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K
    (6 votes)
  • 42%
    Mason Adams: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 5 K
    (11 votes)
26 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 21%
    Emerson Talavera: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
    (4 votes)
  • 31%
    Horacio Andujar: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 1 K
    (6 votes)
  • 47%
    Cristopher De Guzman: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 2 K
    (9 votes)
19 votes total Vote Now

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