South Side Hit Pen

White Sox Minor League Update: August 18, 2019

In the five games played today, White Sox affiliates outscored their opponents by a combined 27-5 margin. Is that good?
Eric Colclasure|

1-2 punch: Could this tandem be coming to Chicago sooner rather than later? (Laura Wolff|Charlotte Knights)

Charlotte Knights 8, Columbus Clippers 2

Matt Tomshaw (SP) W (3-1) QS 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (4.39 ERA, 1.46 WHIP)
Zach Thompson (RP) 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (5.21 ERA, 1.39 WHIP)
Nick Madrigal (2B) 1-for-3, R, SB (3), 2 BB (.281 BA, .709 OPS)
Luis Robert (CF) 2-for-5, 2 R, 2 HR (11), 3 RBI (28), K (.306 BA, .997 OPS) **MVP**
Daniel Palka (RF) 0-for-3, R, 2 BB, 2 K (.268 BA, .923 OPS)
Zack Collins (C) 2-for-4, 2B (19), BB, K (.296 BA, .971 OPS)
Yermín Mercedes (DH) 1-for-5, 2 R, HR (14), RBI (50) (.307 BA, 1.029 OPS)
Seby Zavala (1B) 1-for-4 (.224 BA, .785 OPS)
Charlie Tilson (LF) 1-for-3, R, HR (3), 3 RBI (30), BB, K (.305 BA, .793 OPS)
Danny Mendick (3B) 2-for-3, R, HR (15), RBI (58), SB (19), BB (.283 BA, .828 OPS)

Corey Kluber pitched the first inning against the Knights, allowing two-out walks to Daniel Palka and Zack Collins but otherwise escaping the inning unscathed. Danny Mendick, however, did in fact scathe the Clippers' Jared Robinson for a two-out, 432-foot solo bomb in the second to give the Knights an early 1-0 lead.

After Nick Madrigal coaxed a leadoff walk in the third, his teammate Luis Robert knew exactly what to do on this 2-2 pitch:

You notice I haven't said anything about the vaunted Clippers offense to this point? That's because Matt Tomshaw no-hit them for the first four innings. As they say, however, all good things must come to an end. The first two batters in the fifth got hits, with the first of them scoring on an RBI ground out. Tomshaw was able to get out of the inning without any further damage, leaving the fifth with a 3-1 lead.

That was soon to change, however, as Charlie Tilson's war against Columbus saw him hitting this three-run torpedo into the Charlotte air increasing the Knights lead to 6-1.

An opposite-field blast by Yermín Mercedes extended the lead to 7-1.

Robert, unwilling to be upstaged by Mercedes, hit his second tater of the game against former White Sox catcher Dioner Navarro, of all people, to give the Knights an 8-1 lead. Though Zach Thompson relinquished a meaningless run in the eighth, the Knights came away with a very satisfying 8-2 victory.

As the score would imply, this was an excellent team effort. Tomshaw deserves kudos, and ordinarily MVP honors, for pitching a seven-inning gem allowing just one run and three hits while fanning four. Mendick, Tilson and Mercedes contributed homers, while everyone got on base via hit or walk with the exception of Ramon Torres. With that said, Luis Robert merits the coveted MVP on this day with his two-homer, three-RBI day — here's hoping he can start another hot streak that'll take him straight to the South Side!

Birmingham Barons 6, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 2

Lincoln Henzman (SP) QS, 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (5.78 ERA, 1.47 WHIP) **MVP**
Danny Dopico (RP) 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (2.54 ERA, 1.15 WHIP)
Alec Hansen (RP) 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (5.56 ERA, 1.97 WHIP)
Luis González (CF) 1-for-5, R, HR (9), 2 RBI (54) (.247 BA, .679 OPS)
Joel Booker (LF) 1-for-4, K (.253 BA, .634 OPS)
Blake Rutherford (RF) 2-for-4, R, 2 K (.261 BA, .666 OPS)
Gavin Sheets (1B) 2-for-4, R, 2B (17), 3B (1), RBI (74)
Damek Tomscha (DH) 1-for-3, RBI (23), BB, K (.279 BA, .754 OPS)
Ti'Quan Forbes (2B) 0-for-3, R, BB, 3 K (.247 BA, .673 OPS)
Zach Remillard (3B) 2-for-4, R, 2 K (.184 BA, .565 OPS)
Nate Nolan (C) 2-for-4, 2 RBI (14), K (.167 BA, .532 OPS)
Laz Rivera (SS) 1-for-4, R (.245 BA, .582 OPS)

For the first 3 1/2 innings, this looked to be another old-fashioned pitchers' duel between Kolton Mahoney and Lincoln Henzman, as both teams were scoreless up to that point. The Barons, tired of such a duel, took matters into their own bats with one out and nobody on. Three singles, a Gavin Sheets triple and a walk later, and the Barons had a 4-0 lead after four. With the way Henzman was pitching, that appeared to be enough.

He did seem to tire a bit, however, in the seventh as he surrendered three hits to the first four bitters he faced, resulting in his only two runs. Although Danny Dopico came in and immediately allowed a single, he prevented the inherited run from scoring by fanning the next two hitters.

The Barons got those runs right back in the bottom of the seventh frame, courtesy of a leadoff single by Laz Rivera and a two-run blast to right by Luis González to return the four-run lead to the rightful owners.

Dopico and Alec Hansen finished the final two innings with nary a threat. It's certainly a small sample size, but Hansen at long last may have finally found his groove. In his last four games spanning 4 1/3 innings, he's relinquished just three hits and a walk while allowing nary a run to cross the plate. It'll be interesting to see if the Sox decide to protect him prior to the Rule 5 draft this year.

This was a close MVP call, as there were many worthy recipients including Sheets, but Henzman earned the award this evening with his quality start and shutting out the Jacksonville lineup in his first six innings. Hopefully, this will be a harbinger for things to come for the young man. The Barons improved to 56-66 while the Jumbo Shrimp sunk to 61-64 with their loss.

Winston-Salem Dash 4, Potomac Nationals 1

Taylor Varnell (SP) W (1-1) 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (3.38 ERA, 1.41 WHIP), **MVP**
José Nin (RP) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (4.14 ERA, 1.52 WHIP)
Jacob Lindgren (RP) 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (0.73 ERA, 0.89 WHIP)
Will Kincanon (RP) S (8) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K (1.70 ERA, 1.19 WHIP)
Tyler Frost (CF) 1-for-4, R, 2B (25), 2 K (.259 BA, .768 OPS)
Mitch Roman (SS) 2-for-4, R, RBI (17) (.289 BA, .696 OPS)
Andrew Vaughn (1B) 1-for-3, R, BB (.271 BA, .825 OPS)
Craig Dedelow (DH) 1-for-4, R, RBI (56) (.243 BA, .734 OPS)
Carlos Perez (C) 3-for-4, 2B (11), 2 RBI (32) (.264 BA, .647 OPS)
Jameson Fisher (LF) 1-for-3, BB, 2 K (.243 BA, .719 OPS)
Tate Blackman (2B) 1-for-4, K (.193 BA, .591 OPS)
Yeyson Yrizarri (3B) 1-for-4, 2B (17) (.220 BA, .557 OPS)

After allowing back-to-back doubles in the first inning which tallied the Nationals a run, Taylor Varnell was on top of his game.

The first rally the Dash were able to muster against 26th-ranked Washington Nationals prospect Jackson Tetrault was in the fourth, when Winston-Salem loaded the bases with two out via Andrew Vaughn and Carlos Perez singles with a Jameson Fisher walk. Unfortunately, a Tate Blackman fly out ended the inning without the Dash inflicting any damage to Potomac.

It looked like another shutout inning in the fifth, as the first two Dash batters made outs. Then, the Dash mounted a furious rally thanks to back-to-back hits by Tyler Frost and Blackman to tie the game 1-1. After a walk to Vaughn, Craig Dedelow pulled an RBI single to right to give the Dash their first lead of the game at 2-1. Not much for tight games, Perez ripped a double (his third hit of the game) to left that gave the Dash some extra insurance; the two-run double made it 4-1.

After than those back-to-back hits in the first, Varnell only allowed two baserunners in his subsequent 5 1/3 innings. What a terrific outing for the southpaw, who really should've been promoted to Winston-Salem much earlier than he was! Stellar work out of the bullpen by José Nin, Jacob Lindgren and Will Kincanon sealed the 4-1 victory.

There were several standouts in this game, which featured a well-deserved day off for Steele Walker. Perez was the offensive player of the day, as he went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, but the MVP honors for this game go to Varnell with his quality start. With the victory, the Dash improved to 65-54 while the Nationals fell to 59-64.

Kannapolis Intimidators 4, Lexington Legends 0

Sam Long (SP) W (7-5), QS, 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (3.30 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) **MVP**
Hansen Butler (RP) 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (3.60 ERA, 1.40 WHIP)
Justin O'Conner (RP) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (1.80 ERA, 1.20 WHIP)
Lenyn Sosa (SS) 0-for-4, RBI (33) (.236 BA, .622 OPS)
Ramon Beltre (CF) 1-for-4, R, 2B (22) (.215 BA, .573 OPS)
Alex Destino (RF) 0-for-3, R, BB (.299 BA, .859 OPS)
Tyler Osik (DH) 1-for-4, 2B (6), RBI (7), K (.256 BA, .755 OPS)
Corey Zangari (1B) 0-for-2, R, RBI (30) (.201 BA, .725 OPS)
Amado Nuñez (2B) 1-for-4, K, E (15) (.221 BA, .617 OPS)
Gunnar Troutwine (C) 0-for-2, R, 2 BB (.251 BA, .698 OPS)
Cameron Simmons (LF) 2-for-3, K (.220 BA, .578 OPS)

This game was another classic pitchers' duel, as Sam Long and Jon Heasley were duking it out pitch-for-pitch in the first five innings, both teams combining for a measly three hits and no runs. That is, until the Intimidators half of the sixth. After Ramon Beltre doubled with one out and Alex Destino followed with a walk, Tyler Osik pulled an RBI double to left giving his team the long-awaited first run of the game. Corey Zangari followed with a sac fly, plating Destino with the game's second run. Long was sent to the showers after this scoring barrage, having given Kannapolis a quality start by shutting down the Legends over six innings on just two hits and one walk while striking out seven.

Hansen Butler entered the game in the seventh inning, and was supported by runs over his two-inning appearance via an error and wild pitch, pushing the Intimidators to a 4-0 lead. Justin O'Conner, recently converted from catcher, struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth to seal the deal.

In what is the theme of the day, pitching was the name of the game for Kannapolis, as it surrendered just four hits and a walk while striking out 11 Legends on the evening. Despite stellar work from the bullpen and a two-hit performance by Cameron Simmons, Long definitely deserved the MVP with his six-inning, shutout performance. The Intimidators accelerated to 55-69 for the year while the Legends fell to 61-64.

Speaking of Long, he's been on fire for the month of August. In four starts covering 22 1/3 innings, he's posted a sensational 0.81 ERA and 0.76 WHIP by allowing just 12 hits and five walks while fanning 24.

Great Falls Voyagers vs. Missoula Osprey DH, postponed

AZL White Sox 5, AZL Mariners 1

Andrew Dalquist (SP) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K (0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP)
Jeremiah Burke (RP) W (1-2) 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (4.04 ERA, 1.47 WHIP) **MVP**
Trey Jeans (RP) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (2.45 ERA, 1.20 WHIP)
McKinley Moore (RP) 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (5.82 ERA, 2.06 WHIP)
Mac Welsh (RP) SV (2) 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (0.00 ERA, 0.91 WHIP)
Samil Polanco (2B) 2-for-5, R, K, CS (5) (.278 BA, .637 OPS)
Jose Rodriguez (SS) 1-for-4, R (.276 BA, .795 OPS)
Micker Adolfo (DH) 0-for-3, BB, 2 K (.192 BA, .767 OPS)
Bryan Ramos (3B) 1-for-2, R, RBI (20) (.253 BA, .724 OPS)
Anthony Coronado (RF) 2-for-4, R, RBI (11), K (.317 BA, .878 OPS)
Josue Guerrero (LF) 0-for-3, R, BB, 2 K (.214 BA, .630 OPS)
Sidney Pimental (1B) 1-for-4, RBI (3), 3 K (.143 BA, .427 OPS)
Daniel Millwee (C) 2-for-4 (.229 BA, .700 OPS)
Misael Gonzalez (CF) 1-for-4, 3 K (.197 BA, .487 OPS)

Andrew Dalquist, this year's third-round pick, appeared in just his second outing tonight and pitched a nifty 1-2-3 inning. Though he's done quite well in the extremely small sample size, it's clear the Sox are treating Matthew Thompson and him quite delicately this year in order to avoid any unnecessary injuries.

The first scoring in this game came in the top half of the second, when the Sox scored the first two runs of the inning courtesy of a two-run single by Sidney Pimental, plating Anthony Coronado and Josue Guerrero. They scored the third run that inning in the strangest of ways (although perhaps not too surprising when you think of how the White Sox go about things): with runners on first and third and nobody out, Daniel Millwee bunted into a 6-4-3 double play but Guerrero actually scored from third on the play.

The Sox tacked on two more runs in the third, thanks to a sac fly by Bryan Ramos and an RBI single by Coronado. In the meantime, former Georgetown Hoya Jeremiah Burke totally shut down the Mariners offense from innings 2-6 as he relinquished just two hits and two walks while striking out eight — that's what I call a relief performance!

The game remained 5-0 until the eighth, when McKinley Moore's streak of wildness continue. In walking two batters tonight, which caused him to give up an earned run, he's now walked 17 hitters in 17 innings. Fortunately, former Louisville Cardinal Mac Welsh got the inning's last out to prevent further damage. Welsh returned for the ninth and earned his second save of the season.

While giving Burke the MVP for his yeoman's work on the mound in relief, I want to give a special shout-out to Coronado, who's been one of the few offensive standouts during the past couple of weeks. Since July 29, he's slashed .406/.424/.688, which is quite impressive. With the win, the Sox improved to 19-31 while the Reds plummeted to 21-29.

In the five games played today, White Sox affiliates outscored their opponents by a combined 27-5 margin. In 45 innings today, only 25 hits and 9 walks were allowed while the pitchers fanned 45. For the record, the affiliates posted an amazing 1.20 ERA and 0.76 WHIP. Amazing stuff!

Published
Eric Colclasure
ERIC COLCLASURE

I'm the writer formerly known as WSM20051917. Despite my entire family being Cub fans, I grew up listening to Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall on the radio as I listened to the entire season of the South Side Hit Men of '77. While it's true I have a myriad of other interests (American history, classic literature, classic rock, classic country, blues, jazz, gardening, family, etc.—not all in that order), few things aside from family surpass my interest in all things baseball — especially the White Sox.

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