Birmingham has a Robert Baron.
After spending April dominating the Carolina League, Luis Robert will try his hand -- literally and figuratively -- against Double-A pitching. The White Sox promoted him to Birmingham to take the roster spot vacated by the injured Micker Adolfo.
Robert hit .453/.512/.920 over 19 games with Winston-Salem, with 16 of his 34 hits going for extra bases (eight homers, three triples, five doubles). He also went 8-for-10 in the stolen base department. If you had to pick a nit, it'd be his walk-to-strikeout ratio (4:20), but the strikeouts tended to clump up on him, especially the eight over nine at-bats when coming back from missing five games with a hand contusion.
While Robert gives Birmingham an injection of intrigue (along with Zack Burdi to a lesser extent), the A-ball affiliates won't be hurting in his absence. Steele Walker was overqualified for Kannapolis (.365/.437/.581), so High-A will actually start telling us something about him.
Taking Walker's place is Romy Gonzalez, the 18th-round pick the White Sox considered a steal last year. He's joined by Corey Zangari, who is just trying to stay healthy after a series of injuries dramatically stunted the start of his career.
Gwinnett 4, Charlotte 2
- Charlie Tilson went 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Daniel Palka. 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Zack Collins went 1-for-4 with a K.
- Danny Mendick was 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Joel Booker is on the board, going 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Dylan Cease rebounded: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, 1 HBP
More:
*Cease got a lot of ugly swings:
Winston-Salem 11, Potomac 10
- Steele Walker made his High-A debut and went 1-for-5 with a double.
- Nick Madrigal, 1-for-5 with a triple
- Carlos Perez went 1-for-5.
- A relapse for Alec Hansen: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 13 of 30 pitches for strikes.
More:
*Madrigal just missed a homer:
Charleston 7, Kannapolis 6
- Romy Gonzalez announced his presence, going 3-for-5 with a triple.
- Corey Zangari is also here: 1-for-4 with a double, two strikeouts and an HBP.
- Lenyn Sosa went 0-for-4 with an HBP.
- Bryce Bush went 2-for-3 with a double, two HBPs and a stolen base.
- Luis Curbelo went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts
- Amado Nunez was 1-for-5.
- Davis Martin: 5 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 2 HR, 2 WP
- Jason Bilous: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HBP
