White Sox Minor League Update: April 25, 2023

Winston-Salem brings home the only wins of the day, but Matt Thompson puts together another good start for the Barons

Charlotte Knights

Two initial names were the nail in the coffin for Charlotte today. Oof, another A.J. Alexy start, another bad one with command issues. He left today’s game after three innings, five runs, and five walks. Four of those runs came on a grand slam in the third inning. Like the Kannapolis game coming below, the starting pitcher had a partner in crime for the loss. J.B. Olson did not have the lack of command like Alexy, but he gave up four runs over his three innings pitched. Charlotte’s offense tried to come back in the final six outs, but came up short in the end.

The lineup was bolstered by two batters today, Carlos Pérez and Jake Marisnick, with six of the eight hits on the day. Unfortunately, not enough runners were on base for those six hits. One of the other hits came from Nate Mondou. He extended his hitting streak to nine games with a solo shot in the first inning.

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Birmingham Barons

Two good starts from Matt Thompson in a row. That is good early-season progress for a pitcher who has been routinely inconsistent from start to start. The two runs he allowed over five innings both came from solo homers, so that part isn’t great. But Thompson showed good command to only allow one walk, and the breaking ball looked good for seven strikeouts. His bullpen and defense did not back him up: The Barons had five errors on the day, contributing to two unearned runs after Thompson left the game on top of the two earned runs. It was not like Birmingham’s bats were executing well enough to win, though.

The lineup came away with just four hits, so they could not take advantage of their five walks. The 13 strikeouts put an end to any semblance of a breakout inning before it could really start. The lone run came from Taylor Snyder, a solo home run in the fifth inning, his first of the year.

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Winston-Salem Dash Game 1

The opener was a bullpen game for the Dash, and it worked out well enough for a 3-2 win. Doubleheaders are seven innings each so bullpening is a bit easier, but the four pitchers today only let up one earned run — and they needed to be this sharp to win. Noah Owen was the starter; he didn’t have great command with three walks, but he wriggled out of any trouble.

Everhett Hazelwood, the only pitcher coming into the game having had a decent start to the season, lowered his ERA to less than 1.00; he was close to allowing a run with four hits allowed versus six outs, but again, he got lucky and worked his way out of it. This Wilfred Veras double play pretty much illustrates that luck.

The offense this early afternoon was pretty much DJ Gladney and the other eight hitters. Gladney went 3-for-3, including his fourth homer of the year.

He was involved in two of the three runs from the game, the first and last. The final one was a little more boring — off of an error. But it ended up being the deciding run.

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Winston-Salem Dash Game 2

Two games for the Dash, and two wins to push Winston-Salem to 11-4. Without them, there wouldn’t be any wins today in the whole system. This evening, the Dash did deploy more of a starter than in the first game, as Johan Scolaro got the call to go the first four innings and did well enough. He allowed two runs and quite a few base runners, but worked out of any major trouble in the end. The final three innings were close to a breeze, with Ernesto Jaquez working two and Adisyn Coffey taking a perfect seventh for the save. That is now five scoreless appearances for Coffey this season.

The offense did not do much, no really, it didn’t. Four of the five runs for the Dash came on outs. A DJ Gladney single in the fifth inning was the only hit for an RBI the entire game for the Dash. Like in the opener, Gladney provided the bulk of the offense with three RBIs (the other two came on outs). Terrell Tatum had a good nightcap, as well, reaching base all three times with two hits and one walk. His batting average is better than .300 again.

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Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

A bad fifth and sixth inning from Connor McCullough and Emerson Talavera led to a 7-4 loss. Outside of those two innings, Kannapolis was great — they won, 4-0! In the fifth and sixth, the hits just kept coming and coming and didn’t stop for the Mudcats. The Kanny arms let up 13 for the game, seven came in those two innings, as well as four of the five walks. So, really, no joke, Kannapolis did pretty well outside these two innings. A last note on the arms Chase Krogman, a two-way player pre-draft but an outfielder the past couple years, made his first relief appearance today.

The two offensive powerhouses of the Cannon Ballers (so far) did well today. Logan Glass had two hits, including a double. It was his first double of the year, which is funny because he has four homers. Tim Elko hit his fifth bomb of the season, a three-run shot in the eighth.

Mario Camilletti, who has had a very weird season so far, did what he does best: walk. He has six hits and five strikeouts on the season. Meanwhile, he has 17 walks, seventeen. That cannot, you know, keep happening, right? A .523 on-base percentage with just six hits is one of the weirder early-season statistical quirks.

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