White Sox Minor Keys: May 31, 2019
Blake Rutherford returned to action on Thursday after missing a couple games with an injury suffered in the field, and he promptly struck out three times. He kept May from ending on a completely sour note, as he went 2-for-4 in the Barons’ loss to Toledo.
Even though it’s been a slog for most Barons hitters all year, Rutherford’s struggles have stood out. Here’s how they stand as they enter June:
| Hitter | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | BB% | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luis Gonzalez | 210 | .230 | .286 | .326 | 7.6 | 17.6 |
| Gavin Sheets | 197 | .239 | .299 | .333 | 8.1 | 20.3 |
| Laz Rivera | 180 | .228 | .283 | .281 | 6.1 | 15.0 |
| Blake Rutherford | 159 | .185 | .226 | .291 | 5.0 | 25.8 |
Every other hitter can claim something. Gonzalez didn’t improve from April to May, but his strikeout rate is better than the one he had at A-ball last year. Sheets is tied for the team lead in homers. Rivera has more than doubled his walk rate.
The best thing you can say about Rutherford’s performance is that his line against righties is in line with everybody above. He’s just 4-for-41 with a walk to 10 strikeouts against left-handed pitching.
Rutherford told James Fegan that he’s in the worst slump of his life but determined to fix it. Fortunately, nobody in Winston-Salem is pressing for his roster spot. That buys him more time than it originally seemed.
Charlotte 4, Toledo 0
- Daniel Palka went 1-for-3 withi a walk and a strikeout.
- So did Zack Collins, but his hit was a double.
- Danny Mendick, 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Joel Booker was 0-for-4 with a K, and was caught stealing.
- Justin Nicolino is the latest to make a bid for a spot start: 8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K
Montgomery 8, Birmingham 7
- Luis Robert went 2-for-5 with two stolen bases.
- Luis Basabe departed after going 0-for-1, potentially because of soreness when he swings right-handed.
- Gavin Sheets homered for the second straight day while going 2-for-5.
- Ti’Quan Forbes was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He was also hit by a pitch and stole a base.
- Blake Rutherford went 2-for-4.
- Laz Rivera, 1-for-3 with a walk, strikeout and stolen base.
- Blake Battenfield: 5 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
More:
*Sheets’ homer:
Hickory 10, Kannapolis 5
- Lenyn Sosa went 1-for-4 with a double.
- Romy Gonzalez, 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Luis Curbelo singled and struck out thrice.
- Corey Zangari was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Winston-Salem at Carolina PPD (power outage)
Let’s say theoretically the Sox are gonna call up Robert this season.
Do they start him in RF and keep Garcia where he is, or do they shift Garcia over and let Robert take over in CF?
Don’t change his position on a call up. He’ll already have enough to deal with.
That, and Robert should be the better center fielder, at least after the breaking-in period.
Can we get a Tiquan Forbes writeup? Other than Robert he’s having the best hitting season in AA. His strikeouts are down and he’s on base at .379. He’s got the pedigree as a 2nd rounder, is this what it looks like to see a high schooler develop?
I see that the Royals are making Whit Merrifield available. Go get him, Rick!
Madrigal, Basabe, and Lincoln Henzman. Get it done.
Sheets better keep turning it around. Looks like a horrible pick so far…
It’s June 1st. Do you know where your Jake Burger is?
When was the last time the Sox gave us an update on him?
Looked like was getting game action in some backfields somewhere based on his twitter.
Still in Arizona it seems.
Ian Dawkins needs to start picking on kids his own age. B-Ref has him at +1.5 on the rest of A- and he’s killing them. The other parents are beginning to grumble.