White Sox Minor League Update: Aug. 30, 2017

He’s now in Charlotte, but Michael Kopech was the biggest bright spot for the Birmingham Barons all season. The Southern League did not forget him, naming him the Most Outstanding Pitcher for 2017.

From the press release:

Kopech, 21, was 8-7, with a 2.87 ERA in 22 starts for the Barons this season. The No. 1 pitching prospect and No. 12 overall in the MLB, according to MLB Pipeline, left the Southern League on August 18 with his promotion to Triple-A Charlotte amongst the top 10 in many pitching categories. The right-hander is tied for eighth in wins (8), fourth in ERA (2.87), first amongst qualified starters in hits allowed (77), batting average against (.184), strikeouts (155) and strikeouts per nine innings pitched (11.69). Kopech also represented the White Sox in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game in Miami in July, pitching a scoreless inning for Team USA.

He’s only the fifth Baron to receive the honor, so there aren’t a whole lot of precedents, but the last one — Mark Buehrle in 2000 — worked out pretty well.

That year, Buehrle went 8-4 with a 2.28 ERA over 118 ²⁄₃ innings before he was promoted to Chicago, never to return to the minors.

Durham 10, Charlotte 6

• Jake Peter went 1-for-4 with a homer, walk and two strikeouts.
• Jacob May was 1-for-4 with a K.
• Rymer Liriano was 0-for-3 with a sac fly and a strikeout.
• Danny Hayes went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• Casey Gillaspie was 0-for-4.
• D.J. Peterson went 1-for-2 with two walks.
• Eddy Alvarez went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and three errors.
• Tyler Danish: 2 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR

Carolina 5, Winston-Salem 3

• Jameson Fisher went 1-for-3 with a walk.
• Seby Zavala was 0-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts.
• Jimmy Lambert: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2 HR

Kannapolis 13, Greensboro 11

• Joel Booker was 3-for-5 with a strikeout. He was also picked off.
• Luis Gonzalez was 3-for-5 with two doubles.
• Blake Rutherford, 0-for-2 with two walks, a sac bunt and a strikeout.
• Gavin Sheets was 2-for-5 with a double.
• Alex Call, 1-for-4 with a double, walk and two strikeouts.
• Andre Davis: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
• Kannapolis trailed this 9-0 through four innings.

Great Falls 7, Helena 6

• Craig Dedelow went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• Justin Yurchak went 3-for-4.
• Franklin Reyes was 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
• Lincoln Henzman: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

AZL White Sox 7, AZL Reds 5

• Ramon Beltre was 2-for-4 with a sac fly.
• Lenyn Sosa went 1-for-4 with a strikeout and a sac bunt.
• Sam Abbott was 1-for-3 with a sac fly.
• Jhoandro Alfaro, 0-for-4 with a K.
• Missed Anthony Coronado making it stateside: 3-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
• Hunter Kiel: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 WP

Tennessee at Birmingham cancelled