White Sox Minor Keys: April 18, 2019
The Birmingham Barons entered Thursday having scored only 41 runs over 13 games, batting .228/.325/.319 as a team. Gavin Sheets, Luis Gonzalez, Micker Adolfo, Laz Rivera and Blake Rutherford all were batting under .200. The solace is that offense is down all around the Southern League, with the Barons’ team OPS of .644 being two points shy of league average.
Even in this context, Blake Rutherford stood out. In his first 10 games at Double-A, Rutherford went 4-for-39 with one walk and 14 strikeouts. All the hits were singles, giving him a line of .103/.125/.103.
Rutherford will have an ISO after tonight thanks to this blast, as he turned on a hanging 80 mph changeup inside:
Sheets and Gonzalez had two-hit nights to put them back over the Mendoza Line. One of these times the gains will actually stay.
Charlotte 2, Gwinnett 1
- Danny Mendick and Seby Zavala both went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Zack Collins walked twice and struck out twice.
- Spencer Adams: 4 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Birmingham 7, Jacksonville 3
- Joel Booker went 0-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Luis Gonzalez singled twice, walked and struck out twice.
- Gavin Sheets went 2-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Blake Rutherford, 1-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Ti’Quan Forbes went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Felix Paulino: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Winston-Salem 5, Potomac 3
- Luis Robert homered again. 3-for-5, two strikeouts.
- Carlos Perez doubled up on doubles during a 2-for-4 night.
- Alec Hansen is extending: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 19 of 27 pitches for strikes.
Hagerstown 10, Kannapolis 5
- Steele Walker went 2-for-3 before being lifted for a pinch hitter.
- Lenyn Sosa went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Amado Nunez went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- So did Bryce Bush, whose hit was a double.
- Luis Curbelo went 1-for-4 with a double, walk and two strikeouts.
- Davis Martin: 3 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
- Jason Bilous: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Author
This is the second time in the last 4 games that Walker has been lifted for a pinch hitter. Any idea why? Last night was a blow out, but the other game was a 1-run game.
Zack Collins – so nice you want to play him twice.
Durp. Seby was the first one.
Hansen, not walking. Do we know if he’s hitting the mitt?
I would expect promotions around May 1st.
I’ll be happy for Steele, nervous for LouBob and curious to see if Hansen gets stretched out in W-S, or stays in the ‘pen and goes to BHam.