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White Sox Minor League Update: August 20, 2023

Rikuu Nishida made his Kannapolis debut in their win, and more updates

By Darren Black
/ new
Rikuu Nishida made his Low-A debut.
@TiffW96

The Knights tied the game in the seventh with a four-run inning but couldn’t score in any other inning in their one-run loss. Chase Solesky had the start and got hit around, again. If there were more starting pitching close enough to Triple-A and having good years, Solesky probably isn’t in the organization or is still with the Barons. He just isn’t good enough for Triple-A. He gave up eight hits which helped lead to four runs. The bullpen was much better behind him. That included Deivi García in his second appearance with the Knights after getting claimed from the New York Yankees. Command wasn’t there but he fooled enough hitters to get through the inning unscathed.

The bats didn’t have a good time with run production beyond the seventh. There was a lack of extra-base hits so scoring chances were hard to come by. Korey Lee had the only extra-base hit, a double. Laz Rivera led the team in hits, with two, and drove in a couple.

Clint Frazier had a rough day, even if he did help lead to the tying run. He had five plate appearances and struck out in four of them.

Poll

Who was the Knights MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 30%
    Laz Rivera: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (14 votes)
  • 13%
    Xavier Fernández: 1-for-2, 1 R, 2 BB, 0 K
    (6 votes)
  • 56%
    Bullpen: 4 2⁄3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K
    (26 votes)
46 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Knights Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 60%
    Chase Solesky: 4 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
    (27 votes)
  • 40%
    Clint Frazier: 0-for-4, 1 BB, 4 K
    (18 votes)
  • 0%
    Victor Reyes: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 0 K
    (0 votes)
45 votes total Vote Now

It was a blah game for the Barons, and unfortunately, that’s not unusual this season. It was, in particular, bad for the offense that just mustered one run today. Only three batters were able to get hits today. Yoelqui Céspedes singled and drove in the team’s only run. Sebastion Rivero had two hits, one was a double. Finally, Bryan Ramos, with a single of his own and walk to reach twice. Colson Montgomery, obviously, wasn’t a part of the very small hit parade, but he did walk. Tim Elko had been on a tear this week with a couple of homers, but today was not his day with three strikeouts.

From the mound, it was another Jake Eder pitching day and another poor start from him. The command was not there. He got hit around and gave up a three-run homer as the big get against him. Eder has had three starts with the Barons, and all three were bad showings.

Oh, and if you are wondering, Jake Burger has a 159 OPS+ coming into the game today for the Miami Marlins.

Poll

Who was the Barons MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 27%
    Sebastion Rivero: 2-for-4, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K
    (13 votes)
  • 14%
    Yoelqui Céspedes: 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 SB
    (7 votes)
  • 58%
    Kim Ng: Traded Jake Eder for Jake Burger
    (28 votes)
48 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Barons Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 6%
    Tim Elko: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 3 K
    (4 votes)
  • 28%
    Jake Eder: 3 1⁄3 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
    (17 votes)
  • 64%
    Ken Williams: Traded Jake Burger for Jake Eder
    (38 votes)
59 votes total Vote Now

A slow churn for the Dash eventually got them a comfortable 8-4 win. They were down early and took the lead in the fifth. Tyler Schweitzer got the start and he really struggled in his first inning, all three of his runs came there which put the Dash in a 3-0 hole early on. He settled down over the next three, garnering 16 swing-and-misses over his stint. The bullpen is where the Dash shined today from the mound. They finished out the game with five innings, with only one run allowed, and five strikeouts. That gave the Dash offense time to come back and take a secure lead after the seventh inning.

The offense managed to get on base 17 times today. Brooks Baldwin, Jacob Burke, and Shawn Goosenberg led the team in that department with three times on base. Burke, and more so Baldwin, keep making High-A look easy. Baldwin leaves the game with a .950 OPS and Burke hit his ninth double for Winston-Salem. They both swiped a bag as well.

Goosenberg had the better day at the end of things though. Two of his three hits went for extra bases. His two-run homer in the seventh helped give the Dash needed-insurance at the end of the game. It was his eighth home run of the season.

Poll

Who was the Dash MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 34%
    The Bullpen: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
    (16 votes)
  • 15%
    Brooks Baldwin: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 SB
    (7 votes)
  • 4%
    Jacob Burke: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 SB
    (2 votes)
  • 45%
    Shawn Goosenberg: 2-for-3, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
    (21 votes)
46 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Dash Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 13%
    Caberea Weaver: 1-for-4, 0 BB, 2 K
    (5 votes)
  • 59%
    Tyler Schweitzer: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
    (22 votes)
  • 27%
    Nobody
    (10 votes)
37 votes total Vote Now

A rip-roaring comeback from the Cannon Ballers late, seven runs in the final two innings from the offense gets them an 8-6 win. Wilber Sanchez was the man to put the team over the top in the eighth, with a bases-loaded single that gave Kannapolis the win.

Before all of this though, the man of the day was Rikuu Nishida, the 11th-round selection from this past draft. It was his first game in Low-A and he came up with a couple of hits. Both bloop singles, but his stance is what caught people’s eyes because it is very unconventional.

You can see him actually take steps toward the top of the batter's box as the pitcher is going through his windup. That is a lot of movement in the batter’s box for me and it isn’t really a surprise he only hit five homers for Oregon. He clearly can make a lot of contact though and that approach seems to help him get his bat where it needs to be. He stole a base as well.

The first-round selection, Jacob Gonzalez, had a hit today, a double. He is still struggling in Low-A for whatever this abbreviated stint in the pros means to him or anybody else. Chris Lanzilli kept his great Low-A tenure going today too. He had two hits in three tries, keeping his batting average above .300.

From the mound, Mark McLaughlin only lasted one inning, so Anderson Comás came in and threw five good innings. That long of a stint on the mound for him came out of nowhere. He did go four innings for the ACL back in June once, but not really near five since he joined Kannapolis. He got hit around, six hits given up, but his control is still unbelievably good for somebody that hasn’t pitched very long. In total, 44 of his 69 pitches were strikes and he didn’t issue a single walk.

Before the game, Noah Schultz was put on the 7-day IL.

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 43%
    Anderson Comás: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
    (17 votes)
  • 17%
    Chris Lanzilli: 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K
    (7 votes)
  • 38%
    Rikuu Nishida: 2-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 SB
    (15 votes)
39 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 74%
    Mark McLaughlin: 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
    (23 votes)
  • 25%
    Drake Logan: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 2 K
    (8 votes)
  • 0%
    Calvin Harris: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K
    (0 votes)
31 votes total Vote Now

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