White Sox Minor Keys: June 5, 2018
Luis Robert finally surfaced in a stateside regular-season minor league game, although not at the affiliate most expected. He joined the Kannapolis Intimidators, which makes a lot of sense when factoring in Robert’s rust and Winston-Salem’s super-crowded outfield.
He figures to get off to a slow start, and his A-ball career opened with an 0-for-4 night in the second game of a doubleheader against Hickory. Intimidators broadcaster Trevor Wilt took videos of his plate appearances:
- First PA: Tap back to the mound.
- Second PA: Walk.
- Third PA: 5-3 chopper on a bang-bang play.
- Fourth PA: Strikeout on a high fastball.
- Fifth PA: A flyout to the warning track.
Luis Robert flies out to the warning track in his fifth at-bat #WhiteSox @whitesox pic.twitter.com/bapuRZ5yXF
— Trevor Wilt (@Trevor_Wilt10) June 6, 2018
Robert said after the game that he feels good. His thumb is fine, but there’s a little tightness in the wrist from being in the cast, and his rhythm overall isn’t quite there yet.
Charlotte 4, Syracuse 1
- Carson Fulmer: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 58 of 105 pitches for strikes.
More:
*Fulmer felt OK about these walks:
After his 3rd straight quality start, #CLTKnights starting P Carson Fulmer is confident and ready to head back to the #WhiteSox when called upon. His thoughts..@SoxMachine pic.twitter.com/SYAxrbYoen
— Jonathan Lee (@followmefor3) June 6, 2018
Jacksonville 2, Birmingham 1
- Danny Mendick went 1-for-4 with a stolen base.
- Zack Collins, 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Eloy Jimenez and Seby Zavala both were 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Jameson Fisher went 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Tito Polo struck out in his only plate appearance, and was replaced the following inning.
- Spencer Adams is experiencing a renaissance: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Winston-Salem 6, Salem 5
- Joel Booker went 1-for-4 with a homer, walk and strikeout. He was caught stealing tryin to swipe home.
- Ti’Quan Forbes was 1-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Luis Alexander Basabe and Alex Call both were 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts. Both were caught stealing, with Call being picked off.
- Blake Rutherford, 2-for-4.
- Yeyson Yrizarri went 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base.
More:
*Call’s single was a walk-off job, and not the usual kind.
In April, Alex Call (@ACAD_27) beat Salem with a walk-off squeeze bunt.
Tonight, he once again provided the knockout blow against the Red Sox.
🎙️: @Joe_Weil pic.twitter.com/hpMX1UCbFk
— Winston-Salem Dash (@WSDashBaseball) June 6, 2018
Hickory 8, Kannapolis 6 (Game 1, 9 innings)
- Luis Gonzalez went 1-for-5.
- Evan Skoug, 1-for-4.
- Justin Yurchak was 2-for-4 with a triple and a strikeout.
- Carlos Perez was 0-for-3 with a sac fly.
- Tyler Johnson: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
- Will Kincanon: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Hickory 11, Kannapolis 10 (Game 2, 9 innings)
- Luis Gonzalez drove in five while going 2-for-6 with a double and two strikeouts.
- Luis Robert went 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Evan Skoug was 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Justin Yurchak went 2-for-3 with two walks.
- Luis Curbelo went 1-for-4 with a double, walk and strikeout.
DSL Orioles 9, DSL White Sox 5
- Jose Rodriguez went 4-for-5 with two stolen bases. He’s 17 years old, so there’s that.
Fulmer’s demeanor is a little Beckham-ish for my tastes.
That was my immediate reaction. Yeah, there’s some stuff to build on from that performance, but stating that he’s ready to come back if called upon struck me as a tad delusional.
Carson clearly a big believer in the all important Quality Start stat.
I believe Collins still has a higher wRC+ than Eloy does, which is incredible considering how awful his start to the season was at the plate.
Whatever got Ian Clarkin scratched from his scheduled start for Birmingham this weekend seems to have landed him on the 7-Day DL (backdated to Jun. 1). Club also added Cameron Seitzer up from Kannapolis, Colton Turner down from Charlotte.
Old pal Aron McRee, on the other hand, came off the DL and made his first appearance for Kanny since mid-April. Some rust. Pitched a scoreless 8th inning in Game 2 last night, took the loss in the 9th. See box.
Probables: Stephens, Guerrero, Lambert, Henzman
Groin issue for Clarkin.
rub some dirt on it.
that was the issue
Even before Robert’s injury, I was in support of him beginning in Kanny as opposed to W-S. No reason to be aggressive with his assignment. And when an OF spot does open up in W-S, how could you not give it to Luis Gonzalez? Time to get that kid moving. Maybe I’ll create a community post where the readers can share their top 10 prospects that are most deserving of a promotion at this point. Gonzalez would be near the top of many lists, I’m sure, but there’s lots of names to consider, which is awesome! It’s pretty cool how much good content here comes from having a good farm system. Big difference from a few years back. Keep up the great work, Jim. I look forward to reading the minor keys each morning when I wake up.