Jeff Passan's monthly Prospect Heat Check covered two prominent Barons.
Zack Collins: "Maybe Collins sticks at catcher. Maybe he doesn’t. Either way, the bat is going to play, and the idea of seeing him hitting second in the White Sox’s lineup once their full complement of prospects ascend is awfully appealing. Because his on-base skills are glorious: Collins is hitting .276/.445/.476 this year while splitting time between catcher and DH. The White Sox hope he’s the former. They’ll still take the latter."
Michael Kopech: "Twice in his last five starts, Kopech has gotten lit up, and more than one scout has wondered if he’s bored biding his time before he arrives in the big leagues. The biggest issue, according to one scout, is Kopech’s off-speed pitches. He’s not throwing them for strikes, and it has allowed hitters to sit fastball. And while that fastball sizzles in at 96-97 regularly and has helped him accumulate 70 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings, Kopech can’t subsist solely on one pitch. There’s room to grow, and seeing as how bad the White Sox are, there’s no rush to bring the 22-year-old to Chicago."
Lehigh Valley 2, Charlote 1
- Michael Kopech: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 10 K, 1 HBP, 55 of 100 pitches for strikes.
- Aaron Bummer struck out the side in his first inning back at Charlotte.
Birmingham 6, Tennessee 3 (10 innings)
- Zack Collins went 2-for-4 with a homer, walk and strikeout.
- Seby Zavala was 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Eloy Jimenez walked in a pinch-hitting appearance.
- Jameson Fisher was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Ryan Burr: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
More:
*Jimenez's pinch-hitting appearance suggests he should be ready to go after missing a game due to an HBP.
Winston-Salem 7, Carolina 4
- Joel Booker went 0-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Ti'Quan Forbes, 2-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Luis Alexander Basabe was 0-for-3 with two walks and two strikeouts.
- Blake Rutherford, 1-for-5 with a K.
- Micker Adolfo went 1-for-3 with a double, two walks and a strikeout.
Kannapolis 8, Rome 3
- Luis Gonzalez went 1-for-3 with a double and two walks.
- Luis Robert, 2-for-5 with a double.
- Evan Skoug went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Justin Yurcak, 1-for-5 with one strikeout.
- Luis Curbelo was 1-for-4.
- John Parke: 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
DSL Blue Jays 7, DSL White Sox 2
- Jefferson Mendoza went 2-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
