White Sox Minor Keys: Aug. 20, 2018

If the Birmingham Barons outfield was a stock market, a lot of people would have gone bust. They seem to run hotter and colder than the rest of the system, perhaps because the team leads the Southern League in strikeouts.

Whatever the case, Luis Basabe is on the buy side right now. He hit his sixth homer for Birmingham on Monday, giving him an encouraging line for August that reflects steady improvement:

  • June: .243/.317/.351 over nine games
  • July: .250/.345/.380 over 27 games
  • August: .264/.344/.491 over 14 games

Basabe is only 21, so if he can close the season with a strong month in Birmingham, he might be the team’s consensus sixth-best prospect when new lists are created.

Birmingham 3, Jacksonville 1

  • Joel Booker went 3-for-4 with a double, but was caught stealing.
  • Luis Alexander Basabe was 1-for-4 with a homer.
  • Zack Collins was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
  • Alex Call, 0-for-4 with a K.
  • Danny Mendick went 1-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.

Kannapolis 1, Greensboro 0 (Game 1, 7 innings)

  • Luis Curbelo singled and struck out twice.
  • Steele Walker was 0-for-2 with a sac fly.
  • Jusin Yurchak had Kanny’s other hit, going 1-for-3.
  • Will Kincanon: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 WP

Greensboro 2, Kannapolis 0 (Game 2, 7 innings)

  • Luis Curbelo went 1-for-3 with a strikeout.
  • Steele Walker and Carlos Perez both were 0-for-3 with a K.
  • Justin Yurchak went 0-for-2.
  • Andrew Perez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Ogden 9, Great Falls 8

  • Romy Gonzalez went 0-for-5 with a walk and two strikeouts.
  • Lenyn Sosa, 2-for-5 with a strikeout.
  • Bryce Bush went 2-for-4 with a homer, walk and strikeout.
  • Amado Nunez was 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.
  • Jhoandro Alfaro, 1-for-3 with a walk, strikeout and stolen base.

AZL Giants Black 3, AZL White Sox 2

  • Anderson Comas went 1-for-5.
  • Harvin Mendoza went 1-for-4 with a K.
  • Cabera Weaver singled, walked and struck out twice.
  • Luis Mieses was 0-for-3 with a sac fly and a strikeout.
  • Lency Delgado went 0-for-4 with a K.
  • Sam Abbott went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
  • Brayant Nova, 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

DSL D-backs1 6, DSL White Sox 2

  • Sidney Pimentel went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
  •  Jerrick Francees walked and struck out.
Take a second to support Sox Machine on Patreon
21 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Brett R. Bobysud

The outfield crunch in the system next year is still going to be really interesting.

None of the 5 guys currently in Birmingham seem ready for a promotion to Charlotte at this point, whereas both Gonzalez & Rutherford seem like they’re ready for the AA challenge right now, plus you have to figure in guys like Robert & Adolfo.

mikeyb

And I’d have to imagine their goal is to have Robert in AA by midseason at the latest. I have a feeling Fisher isn’t going to be around much longer, and Call, Booker, and Polo are all going to have to sink or swim pretty early in the year.

Willardmarshall

Wasn’t there a time when teams occasionally loaned minor leaguers to other organizations?

Brett R. Bobysud

I would be okay with promoting Polo to Charlotte just to clear a roster spot at Birmingham (because when he’s been healthy he’s been decent) for Gonzalez. Fisher is the interesting one because the main reason he was assigned to Birmingham at the start of this year was because there were too many OFs at Winston-Salem to start with and they needed to make room. I think they’d be reluctant to cut him at this point, but unless they’re going to make him a full-time DH or 1B, he’s taking up a spot that one of either Rutherford, Robert, or Adolfo could be using.

NorthSideSouthSider

I wouldn’t mind them being aggressive with Call and sending him to AAA if he finishes these last few weeks strong. I am hoping Call can get to the majors before some of the other outfield prospects so he can get some consistent playing time and figure out his role for the future.

asinwreck

I wouldn’t mind seeing both Basabe and Call in AAA to start next year, along with Polo. If whichever of Cordell, Tilson, Palka, or Delmonico is not with the MLB club yet somehow still is in the organization, use Polo as the fourth outfielder.

Lurker Laura

I feel that Tilson will get traded in the off-season. Minor leaguer for minor leaguer.

Brett R. Bobysud

Given how young Basabe is, and given that he hasn’t exactly torn up AA up to this point, I wouldn’t want to promote him to Charlotte that quickly. Let him break camp with Birmingham and then if he does well, send him to Charlotte.

Eagle Bones

Yeah, I’d be a little more conservative with him.

Josh Nelson

White Sox are burning options with Basabe next year. They can’t be too conservative with him (Same goes for Adolfo).

sgp2204

Personally, I’d rather not have our good hitting prospects stuck in hitter’s Hell. Birmingham sucks for hitter development – which makes what Eloy did even more impressive.

I also wouldn’t mind seeing Call in AAA in the near future, but keep in mind, when Jimenez gets called up, be it this year or very early next, that’ll free up a corner outfield spot in Charlotte. Call is my bet to get that spot given his increased power this year.

jose robcada

i mean adolfo pretty much has to be in AA next year since we already used his first option year this year, so he kinda has to rush up since he has to be there by 2020

Josh Nelson

Basabe’s home run from last night.

ndsoxfan

Was there an update yesterday that I missed?

IllinoisJones

never got one.

ndsoxfan

No worries.  Will happily listen to the podcast for the update

Eagle Bones

Did I miss something with Kopech? Saw some weird tweets from some women complaining that he’s not good enough for whoever this girl is he’s dating. Something about him being homophobic and racist. Did I miss some old tweets someone dug up from him?

mikeyb

Yeah, some tweets were found. All the ones I’ve seen are from 2013, at least based on the screenshots.

Smclean09

Did some research and he tweeted some dumb stuff when he was 16 or 17. I think they are a bit more tame than Hader or Turner ones but obviously not having deleted them or apologizing since seems to have been mis-steps.

*Sending them at all was the first one, To be clear