White Sox Minor League Update: July 12-18

Frankie Montas pitched in the Futures Game in Cincinnati on Sunday, but it wasn't anything to write home about.

And yet we write.

Montas entered the game in the sixth inning with one out and runners on first and second. He immediately gave up an RBI single, followed by a wild pitch, another RBI single, an RBI double, and a two-run double. His command wasn't there.

Then he struck out Kyle Farmer with a high 101-mph fastball, and so it was totally worth watching after all.

For whatever reason, there wasn't any PITCHf/x data from the Great American Ballpark, which seems rather un-American of it. But MLB.com's play-by-play account says Montas topped 100 three times, all coming against the two batters he retired to end his inning.

Montas is having a nice season in Birmingham -- 15 starts, 2.47 ERA, 73 IP, 53 H, 1 HR, 29 BB, 62 K -- so the one-day sample (0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) didn't line up with the numbers. The showcase aspect might have changed his approach:

"Everybody was expecting it," Montas said. "‘That’s the guy that throws 100.’ So everybody was expecting me to throwing something hard."

The result was a combination that Keith Law had concerns about:

Chicago White Sox right-hander Frankie Montas hit 100 and 101 when striking out Kyle Farmer, but he has well below-average command and fastball life, so at 97 he was getting hit. If he can't live at 100, he's going to have to find a better second pitch or find a way to get some action on the heater.

The real-time reactions paint a picture of a guy who needed some time to get over or get with the type of stage.

Sunday's box scores will appear below shortly.