White Sox Minor League Update: May 19, 2017

Watching Trey Michalczewski battle significant home-away splits in 2016, I looked forward to seeing what he could do outside of the enhanced gravity at Birmingham.

Alas, he went the other way. The White Sox sent the 2013 over-slot seventh-rounder to to Winston-Salem on Friday after he opened the season hitting .210/.322/.306 with a strikeout rate approaching 30 percent with the Barons.

Like last year, he’s performed better on the road, but both lines took a hit. Still, the discrepancy holds even when tacking his 2017 performance onto his 2016 lines:

• Home: .193/.282/.260
• Road: .249/.345/.408

And so Michalczewski takes a step back with the hope that he’ll have enough room to get a running start for clearing the hurdle in Birmingham. His first game back in Winston-Salem needs a mulligan.

Top prospects at a glance

• Michael Kopech: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 1 WP
• Luis Alexander Basabe: 0-for-5, 2 K
• Zack Collins: 1-for-3, HR, BB, HBP, K
• Dane Dunning: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HR

Charlotte 3, Norfolk 1

• Jacob May went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.
• Adam Engel was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks.
• Nicky Delmonico was 1-for-4 with a double, an HBP and two strikeouts.
• Rymer Liriano went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, but he stole two bases.
• Tyler Danish: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 1 K

Birmingham 3, Tennessee 1

• Eddy Alvarez went 0-for-3 with a walk.
• Jake Peter went 1-for-4 with a double.
• Nick Basto, 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• A step forward for Michael Kopech: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 1 WP

More:

*MiLB.com has a detailed recap of Kopech’s start:

After allowing back-to-back singles to Yasiel Balaguert and Jason Vosler to open the seventh, the 2014 first-rounder recorded three straight outs, capping his night by striking out Kevin Cornelius with a 99-mph pitch.

"We kept him in there so he could work out of a situation like that and it was good to see him strike out Cornelius to get out of that inning. That was impressive," Bautista said.

Carolina 10, Winston-Salem 8 (10 innings)

• Luis Alexander Basabe and Trey Michalczewski went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
• Zack Collins was 1-for-3 with a homer, walk, HBP and strikeout.
• Johan Cruz went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
• Dane Dunning: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HR before being ejected.

More:

*Dunning was ejected for throwing over the head of Lucas Erceg on the first pitch one. Erceg had homered off him in the first inning.

Erceg turned on a first-pitch breaking ball and hit a towering shot just inside the right-field foul pole. He kinda did a heel spin and flipped his bat straight down, but I didn’t see anything that would warrant retaliation, much less anything at the head. It could’ve been an accident, but Dunning’s reaction shows no shock, contrition or anything else you normally see in such cases.

Hickory 5, Kannapolis 4 (Game 1, 7 innings)

• Joel Booker went 2-for-4 with a double, strikeout and stolen base.
• Jameson Fisher returned to action, going 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
• Micker Adolfo, 2-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
• Chris Comito: 5 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 WP

Kannapolis 9, Hickory 1 (Game 2, 7 innings)

• Joel Booker went 1-for-3 with an HBP and a strikeout.
• Jameson Fisher tripled, doubled, was plunked and struck out.
• Micker Adolfo was 3-for-4 with a double.
• Luis Martinez: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K