With Paul Konerko and Josh Fields starting rehab assignments in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, respectively, it's a good time to look back on what happened in the White Sox farm system in the month of June.
Here are links to
April and
May, in case you want to compare.
CHARLOTTE KNIGHTSSpotlight on... Jason BourgeoisNormally I try to reserve this spot for legitimate prospecty prospects, but Bourgeois' emergence from a two-month slumber makes the idea of keeping Pablo Ozuna on the roster even more questionable.
Bourgeois hit a whopping .393/.442/.592 over 116 at-bats in June, with seven doubles, two triples and four homers. He's quickly catching up to his quality 2007 numbers, during which he set career highs in most categories. The only area where his performance is lacking is basestealing, as he finished June only 10-for-18, after going 38-for-47 between Birmingham and Charlotte last season.
To my knowledge, he has played only second, center in left in the White Sox organization, but he has prior experience playing the left side of the infield. If Ozzie Guillen would play Juan Uribe at third, we'd finally know if Ozuna could be expunged from the system once and for all.
Big names:Clayton Richard: The fastest-rising pitcher in the Sox system, Richard has made a more-than-graceful transition from Birmingham to Charlotte. He made four starts in June and won all of them, walking only one batter and allowing only 17 baserunners over 26 innings. He also amassed a respectable 16 strikeouts while not allowing a homer, and that's how his ERA got to be 2.08. If you missed it,
I have video of him here.
David Cook: After tearing up Double-A, the 26-year-old Cook received a promotion to Charlotte June 13. Like Richard, he had few problems adjusting, going .333/429/.522 in his first month ever in Triple-A. I've seen
comparisons to Warren Newson, who would've been a dramatically more appreciated player if he came around 10 years later.
I also have video of him here.
Danny Richar: Richar finally began hitting like the guy expected to be Tadahito Iguchi's heir apparent, hitting .296/352/.435. He's also been more active on the basepaths with seven steals in eight attempts. His defense doesn't seem to have caught up yet (eight errors in 38 games).
Chris Getz: Getz's average continued to climb, as he hit .330 in June. He saw time in left and short along with second base, which will be a key to his future. The biggest question is his home/road splits, as his OPS is nearly 300 points higher at Charlotte's tiny park.
Charlie Haeger: He's the workhorse of the Charlotte staff still, and improved his ERA for a third straight month. He finished June at 3-2 with a 2.76 ERA, and only one unearned run. He saw an uptick in both walks and strikeouts compared to May, but kept hits down at a similar rate.
Jack Egbert: His performance has been uneven, mixing in brilliant starts with shellings, so the 2-2, 3.97 ERA performance in June seems about right. The 32 strikeouts over 34 innings is a terrific sign -- the six homers allowed aren't.
BIRMINGHAM BARONS
Spotlight on... Justin Cassell
After a rough May, Cassell rebounded in June to the tune of a 4-0 record and a 2.75 ERA in June. He averaged an even six innings per start. Cassell's a sinkerballer, and as you would expect, his month-by-month performances have generally correlated with his grounder rate:
- April: 2.39 GO/FO, 1.75 ERA.
- May: 1.22 GO/FO, 4.91 ERA
- June: 1.90 GO/FO, 2.75 ERA.
Five of his six starts in June were quality, and he wasn't shelled in the other (three earned runs over five innings). One thing worth noting is that he's allowed 11 unearned runs already this year, which is either an indictment of the defense behind him or perhaps an inability to let innings snowball on him. Considering the lack of talent at this level, I'm inclined to think it's the former.
Big names:Aaron Poreda: Poreda made his first start at Double-A June 14. He's alternated brilliant and poor outings in his four starts, with three six-inning starts in June. The good news is that his strikeout rate has taken a jump -- after only fanning 46 in 73 1/3 innings at Winston-Salem, he struck out 21 in his first 24 innings at Birmingham.
His June peripherals are better than his 5.00 ERA, but he has been victimized by the big inning thus far.
Carlos Torres: The 25-year-old keeps plugging away, leading the Barons in wins (9), strikeouts (87) and WHIP (1.11). He managed to post a 1.97 ERA despite seeing an uptick in walks (11 in 32 innings). He struck out 25 and held opponents to a .247 average, which is a little higher than his full-season average of .236.
Kyle McCulloch: Meh personified.
With Cook promoted to Charlotte, Victor Mercedes now leads the Barons in OPS at .770. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee.
WINSTON-SALEM WARTHOGS
Spotlight on... John Shelby.
Shelby hasn't quite gotten all the facets of his game together. He did hit .305 with June and doubled his walk total from May (6), but he saw his slugging drop about 50 points. The one consistent part has been his basestealing, as he's 18-for-21 in stolen base attempts. He's one off his season total from last year, and he was caught eight times, so he's improving upon both his raw total and his percentage.
Big names:John Ely: After a tough May, Ely rebounded to post a solid June, going 2-1 with a 3.55 ERA over 33 innings (five starts). The good news is that he got over control issues and issued only five walks all month while striking out 32. The bad news is that he allowed seven homers, which was more than double his total from April and May (3).
KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORSSpotlight on... Jim Gallagher.
The seventh-round pick from Duke in 2007 was supposed to be a polished, low-ceiling hitter with a variety of decent tools. He showed them in rookie ball, but he struggled mightily in his first two months at A-ball.
Fortunately, he picked it up in June, hitting .342/.366/.513 over 117 at-bats. He hit more doubles in June (9) than in April and May combined (8), and added a triple and three homers as well. That he only drew five walks is a concern, as his walk rate is about half of what it was in Great Falls last year.
Big names:Dale Mollenhauer: Yup, not a lot of talent at this level, either. Mollenhauer is 22 and posted a wimpy .676 OPS in rookie ball last year, but let's give him credit for a tremendous June. He hit .372/.396/.513 over 113 at-bats. All his extra-base hits were in the form of doubles, but he collected a whopping 16 of them. He doesn't walk much, but he is 16-for-18 in stolen base attempts.
Mark Fleisher: He's 24 and repeating A-ball, but since his name keeps popping up every day in the recap, I figured I should tabulate the havoc he's wreaked on opposing pitchers last month. He hit .358/.435/.589 with 28 RBI in 25 games.
Miguel Socolovich: One of two A-ball pitchers acquired in the David Aardsma trade, Socolovich is technically the biggest name on the team. He also started to show why the Sox were interested in him, with a 4-to-1 strikeout-to walk ratio, and 25 K's in 29 2/3 innings. He allowed only 31 baserunners. His profile says he's 6'1" and 155 pounds, which means he might be able to fit in Alexei Ramirez's pants.
I'll start looking at rookie ball beginning next month, since there isn't a whole lot of meaningful data right now.
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Minor league roundup:- Durham 2, Charlotte 1
- Paul Konerko went 2-for-3 with a walk in the first game of his rehab assignment.
- Jack Egbert struck out nine over seven shutout innings, scattering three hits and walking one.
- Jason Bourgeois went 1-for-3 with two walks, stole his 13th base, and was picked off/caught stealing.
- Danny Richar doubled and drove in a run, but committed his ninth error.
- Huntsville 2, Birmingham 1 (10 innings)
- Justin Cassell allowed one unearned run over seven innings, allowing six hits and a walk while striking out five.
- Stefan Gartrell hit a solo homer for the Barons' only run.
- Frederick 10, Winston-Salem 4
- Josh Fields went 0-for-1 with two walks and a strikeout in a rehab game.
- Brandon Allen went 1-for-2 with three walks and an RBI; Joe Persischina had three hits.
- Michael Dubee allowed two unearned runs and struck out six over four innings.
- Elizabethton 5, Bristol 4 (11 innings)
- Jorge Castillo hit a two-run homer; Kenneth Gilbert and Justin Greene had two-hit games.
- Brett Graffy struck out four over 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.
- Great Falls 11, Missoula 7
- Luis Sierra drove in five runs on a 4-for-4 day during which he fell a triple short of the cycle.
- Tyler Kuhn had three hits, including a pair of doubles, from the leadoff spot.
- Mike Grace homered, singled and drove in two; Jesus Avila also had two hits.
- Daniel Albritton struck out three over 2 2/3 perfect innings of relief.
- Kannapolis vs. Lake County PPD